rewatching supernatural
Jun. 27th, 2006 11:43 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
vaznettiWe now return to our regularly scheduled programming
I am rewatching episodes of Supernatural in no particular order. The other day it was "Home." One of the odd things about coming into a fandom at the end of the first season is that you pick up hints and echoes of other fans' reactions; I was vaguely aware that there was a school of thought that went something like "We don't like Missouri! She's nasty to poor Dean!" I pretty much disregarded it at the time, but upon a rewatch it struck me that actually, Missouri is hard on Dean, much more so than on Sam. Sam is playing the emo pain card for all it's worth, despite the fact that he clearly thinks that a trip back to Lawrence is kind of a cool idea. Whereas Dean really is revisiting the scene of his Major Childhood Trauma, and is deeply freaked out -- he's practically in tears during that phone call to John, and you can see the panic just below the surface when they're back in the house.
So assuming for the hell of it that Missouri isn't gratuitously being a bitch, here's what I have. First of all, she's pissed off at John, who's camped out in her house refusing to see his sons and generally being cryptic and annoying, and she's taking that out on Dean because he's John's representative. I'm not sure that's all of it, though, if only because it isn't clear when John turns up in Lawrence. My other thought -- and I think this is slightly more plausible -- is that she's distracting Dean from his overwhelming panic and misery by giving him something else to think about, even if it's just "Why's the psychic lady being such a bitch to me?" For all her harshness, Missouri is oddly respectful of Dean's external shell -- Sam wears his pain on his sleeve, so it's OK to comfort him, whereas making it clear that she can see how deeply upset Dean is would only upset him further. Instead, he gets to pretend to be that tough guy a little longer.
Now that I think about it, if you were a psychic, Dean's inner panic would probably set your teeth on edge in a very short time.
And then there's John. Despite his final line to Missouri about not seeing his boys until he "learns the truth" (whatever!) I see nothing here to disprove my theory that the reason John is keeping as much distance as possible from his sons is that he's terrified that if he has to choose between their lives and killing the demon he'll sacrifice his own sons to his need for revenge. Of course being back in Lawrence, the scene of Mary's death, just makes it that much more frightening -- especially while he thinks that the demon might have returned. And I think that John can barely admit this fear to himself, let alone try to explain it to Dean and Sam.
I'm so sad that John didn't get a final scene with Mary's ghost. And I completely refuse to believe that Mary is really gone forever. Missouri's been wrong before about the spirits in that house. She's also very capable of lying about something like that. (Hunh. Plot bunny.)
I really like this episode.
I also rewatched the pilot recently, and you know, both Dean and Sam look a lot younger at the beginning of the year than they do by the end. Not surprising -- it's a long, bad year.
Oh, and also a meme -- I will do top five lists. Top five whatevers.
I am rewatching episodes of Supernatural in no particular order. The other day it was "Home." One of the odd things about coming into a fandom at the end of the first season is that you pick up hints and echoes of other fans' reactions; I was vaguely aware that there was a school of thought that went something like "We don't like Missouri! She's nasty to poor Dean!" I pretty much disregarded it at the time, but upon a rewatch it struck me that actually, Missouri is hard on Dean, much more so than on Sam. Sam is playing the emo pain card for all it's worth, despite the fact that he clearly thinks that a trip back to Lawrence is kind of a cool idea. Whereas Dean really is revisiting the scene of his Major Childhood Trauma, and is deeply freaked out -- he's practically in tears during that phone call to John, and you can see the panic just below the surface when they're back in the house.
So assuming for the hell of it that Missouri isn't gratuitously being a bitch, here's what I have. First of all, she's pissed off at John, who's camped out in her house refusing to see his sons and generally being cryptic and annoying, and she's taking that out on Dean because he's John's representative. I'm not sure that's all of it, though, if only because it isn't clear when John turns up in Lawrence. My other thought -- and I think this is slightly more plausible -- is that she's distracting Dean from his overwhelming panic and misery by giving him something else to think about, even if it's just "Why's the psychic lady being such a bitch to me?" For all her harshness, Missouri is oddly respectful of Dean's external shell -- Sam wears his pain on his sleeve, so it's OK to comfort him, whereas making it clear that she can see how deeply upset Dean is would only upset him further. Instead, he gets to pretend to be that tough guy a little longer.
Now that I think about it, if you were a psychic, Dean's inner panic would probably set your teeth on edge in a very short time.
And then there's John. Despite his final line to Missouri about not seeing his boys until he "learns the truth" (whatever!) I see nothing here to disprove my theory that the reason John is keeping as much distance as possible from his sons is that he's terrified that if he has to choose between their lives and killing the demon he'll sacrifice his own sons to his need for revenge. Of course being back in Lawrence, the scene of Mary's death, just makes it that much more frightening -- especially while he thinks that the demon might have returned. And I think that John can barely admit this fear to himself, let alone try to explain it to Dean and Sam.
I'm so sad that John didn't get a final scene with Mary's ghost. And I completely refuse to believe that Mary is really gone forever. Missouri's been wrong before about the spirits in that house. She's also very capable of lying about something like that. (Hunh. Plot bunny.)
I really like this episode.
I also rewatched the pilot recently, and you know, both Dean and Sam look a lot younger at the beginning of the year than they do by the end. Not surprising -- it's a long, bad year.
Oh, and also a meme -- I will do top five lists. Top five whatevers.
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no subject
Date: 2006-06-27 12:04 pm (UTC)Top 5 TV Moments you cannot forget (real news excluded)
no subject
Date: 2006-06-27 02:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-06-27 03:03 pm (UTC)Wha? For serious? Really, as more and more of you come in, I'm left scratching my head at where you all pick up some of the impressions you've gotten and how in the world I avoided doing the same.
Anyway. I've never thought Missouri's treatment of Dean was anything other than distraction. First thought that hit me, and I haven't seen anything to contradict it. The jumpier he gets, the more insulting she does. He is well and truly freaked out, for good reason, and if she can pick up anything from him, she knows he can deal when he's focused -- whether that's on the job (his normal method), or on the lady giving him a hard time for crap that he isn't even doing.
I really hope they bring Missouri back again. Really, really. Fascinating character to play with in her own right, and wheee, someone who knows John and hasn't completely fallen out with him. The man is not a people person, is he?
And I have to say, as much as I love that phone call, the scene that makes me happiest is the one when Sam and Dean first go into the house. Sam is just bopping along, checking things out, totally oblivious to the fact that Dean is ready to jump out of his skin back there if something moves wrong. It's a whole different level of terrified than what we saw in Phantom Traveler -- not an irrational phobia but a very much justified nightmare -- and while Sam knows that this isn't a happy thing for Dean, he does not get at all how bad it is. Which is partly Dean's fault for holding it in, but also, I think, just part of the older-younger sibling thing; Dean and "afraid" doesn't entirely equate in Sam's head, and Dean and "childhood fears" really doesn't.
no subject
Date: 2006-06-27 04:25 pm (UTC)Now I'm interested in this as well -- it's possible that there's a kind of echo effect, coming at all this stuff after the fact. I might stumble across a trace of something, but have no idea how "loud" the original noise was, if you see what I mean. At this distance, it's hard to judge the scale of it.
There is something odd about happening across old posts, or references to old posts, though.
Anyway, I'm sure you're right about the distraction. And I'd like to see Missouri again as well, althouhg I'm not convinced that she's entirely pleased with John in that last scene, I don't get the sense that she was about to chuck him out either. And goodness knows they're going to need help in the opening of S2.
Which is partly Dean's fault for holding it in, but also, I think, just part of the older-younger sibling thing; Dean and "afraid" doesn't entirely equate in Sam's head, and Dean and "childhood fears" really doesn't.
I think that if Sam thought to look for it, he would have noticed Dean's fear -- I think that he just can't comprehend how much terror the house can hold for Dean, probably because Dean's been fairly careful about what he's told Sam about it (focusing on the pre-demon, happy times, not the night everything went to hell) and yeah, because Sam relies on Dean to not be afraid of all the scary stuff in the world.
no subject
Date: 2006-06-27 07:12 pm (UTC)I've also been rewatching season one, mostly because I had to download the vast majority of it and initial reactions to episodes can be misleading (in other words, it's summer and there's nothing much on tv and the Winchesters are love). So I also just rewatched 'Home'.
Fandom is a funny place. Thie first time I saw the ep I assumed that Missouri's comments were a kind of hackneyed attempt at humor and didn't think much more of it. After seeing fandom's reaction (wow, fangirls are awfully protective of the Dean!woobie, not that I blame them) and a second viewing I was more prone to think that Missouri just didn't have any patience for Dean and his attitude. I would imagine that dealing with all of Dean's layers (the attitude, the intense fear of being back in Lawrence, etc.) would give anyone the psychic equivalent of whiplash. Sam must be much easier on the Shining, what you see is what you get and he's willing to accept comfort.
With Dean I can kind of see her mentally throwing up her hands and treating him like a nephew or a kid brother because, really, it's not like he would have accepted a hug or anything like that. ;-)
Though, of course, there's a lot to be said for your viewpoint, as well. All of this means I'll just have to go back and rewatch the episode. I'm sure I'll manage. *snort*
I am completely, 100% behind you with regards to John's motivations for secrecy. They are and always will be his little boys and he'll do whatever he thinks is necessary to protect them.
no subject
Date: 2006-06-27 08:14 pm (UTC)I would imagine that dealing with all of Dean's layers (the attitude, the intense fear of being back in Lawrence, etc.) would give anyone the psychic equivalent of whiplash.
I'm sure you're right about this. I mean, you would always have to be biting your tongue, because the gap between what Dean thinks and what he says can be enormous -- or it can be nothing at all. And you'd never know which it was going to be. Add in the terror and Dean's need to muffle that terror, and you can just imagine the migraine. So in a way, giving him something else to think about is going to make both of them feel better.
And yeah, I could just imagine what Dean would have done if she'd patted him on the hand and told him it was OK to be scared. Ha!
They are and always will be his little boys and he'll do whatever he thinks is necessary to protect them.
Hm. Although John's been working with Dean as an adult for years now, and seems to have just forgotten all about that. And it's not like he isn't sending them just to safe cases. I think he's worried about the Demon in particular -- that it would make him choose between hurting it and keeping them safe -- or worse, put him in the kind of position Sam was in at the end of the series. Because what would he do? I mean, he'd probably hope that he wouldn't shoot, but he wouldn't know for sure. And Dean in particular would never believe that his father could be a danger to him.
no subject
Date: 2006-08-07 06:50 pm (UTC)Yes! And I'm emailing you all the rest, instead of responding piecemeal to your kind replies to all of my scattered, belated comments. But my initial and completely-uninformed-by-other-fan-reactions assumption about Missouri was that she intended to snap Dean out of his funk--or prevent him from giving way to it, anyway.