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SPN 7.20 The Girl with the Dungeons and Dragons Tattoo
Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The trouble-makers. The round heads in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status-quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify, or vilify them. But the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.
-- Jack Kerouac
When one door closes another door opens. Goodbye Frank, hello Charlie. Where one misfit ends, another enters. It doesn't take a college degree. A high school dropout - or GED with a give-'em-hell attitude - are capable of changing the world. How?
Because humans are not simple entities who follow all rules and patterns. Evolution comes from change of the status quo. Those who have that spark dare to be different. Because they are trying to change the world. Or because they like to stir up trouble. Because they want to take over the world. Because they have a problem with authority. Because they want to save the world. Because they want to be themselves. So many different reasons. Motives do not all come from the same source, and are therefore that much more difficult to understand in order to replicate.
Facts. Facts are easy to copy. Run a page through a Xerox machine and you get a perfect duplicate. The Leviathans have this ability. Xeroxing some humans in order to establish their presence invisibly into human society.
Just one tiny hang-up. They can't duplicate us perfectly. They can replicate the facts, the cold hard data of memories. But that spark of individuality... that is solely human. There was an amusing implied meta commentary on how some humans are easy to Xerox because they themselves lack a strong sense of personal identity. Look at Hollyweird, and at how many starlets and "famous for being famous" personalities seem so artificial. Not all humans stand out as unique individuals. Some allow themselves to be dictated to by the whims of whatever is deemed fashionable or popular. Made to order, in a certain sense. Cattle herding themselves onto the bandwagon.
Perfect fodder for Dick Roman's plans. Pull the right strings and you can drive that wagon loaded with unsuspecting meals on legs right into the slaughterhouse for the dinner bell.
But not everyone. There are always those misfits who dare to challenge the status quo. Not because they are all exceptionally brave, or because they are determined to be heroes. Some are not even the good guys. But they stand as unique and capable of making a difference nonetheless.
Dick Roman: Your spark, it's one in a million. Believe me, when you've got it, you invent guns and iPads and viruses and holy crap, you can be crafty. What is that, Charlie? Because I can feed every fact in your brain to someone else and they still wouldn't be able to be you.
Charlie is one such example of unique.
Charlie: Historically, I've had this problem with authority. No offense. So I realized that the only way I could get away with being me was to be as indespensable as possible.
Sam and Dean are another example.
Wait! Woah! Back up. Sam and Dean have already been cloned by the Leviathans. How can we possibly think they are still so unique and individual?
It's quite simple.
In Slash Fiction (7.06) Sam and Dean were cloned factually, but it remained only a superficial copy of the boys. The Leviathans' purpose was not to perfectly copy them, but to replicate details of their history to draw them out into the open. That was all. They didn't clone the essence of Dean and Sam. Didn't even come close. Let's examine the evidence.
Leviathan!Sam: You know I had a brother with this many issues once.
Leviathan!Dean: Yeah?
Leviathan!Sam: You know what I did?
Leviathan!Dean: Mmm?
Leviathan!Sam: I ate him.
Leviathan!Dean: Of course you did.
Leviathan!Dean: I'm not your brother. But I am Dean adjacent.
Leviathan!Dean: You could be anything. You're strong, uninhibited, smart enough - believe it or not - but you're so caught up in being good and taking care of each other! ... You're wasting a perfectly good opportunity to subjugate the weak. (7.06)
The Leviathans don't understand the Winchesters' loyalty to each other. Their love for each other. Brother adjacent -- able to mimic the face but not the heart of Sam and Dean.
They just aren't human. Of course they can't get it.
Dick: You broke the unbreakable. How'd you do it?
Charlie: Nothing's unbreakable, really. Nothing's safe.
Nothing's unbreakable. Nothing's safe. Are these two statements repeating the same idea? Or is there a difference between the two?
Sam and Dean were both broken by Hell. Further chips have been chiseled away by losing key figures that have stood not only as family and home, but as a source of comfort and haven and hope. They still found a way to keep moving on.
Staying safe?
Well, those same losses have represented losing important pieces of their lifes that had once gave them a sense of safety. Castiel. The Impala. Bobby. Dean's growing death wish. Sam's mind.
But Sam and Dean are no strangers to not being "safe". The losses have piled on, but they are not strangers to loss, to knowing there is no real safety out there in the world. They are well aware there are few things they can truly rely on, and everything and everyone has a vulnerability that can be exploited to its breaking point. Been there, done that, last year's news. And the year before. And the year before. And... well. You get my drift.
Dean: Normal people, they see a monster, and they run. But not us, no, no, no, we -- we search out things that want to kill us. Yeah? Huh? Or eat us! You know who does that? Crazy people! We...are insane! (4.06)
Dean: If it bleeds, you can kill it. (7.14)
A lifetime of crazy. Seeking out the very thing that can kill you, in order to kill it first. Before it kills others.
Dick Roman is not used to the idea of not being safe. Of being thwarted. He feels like he is at the top of the food chain. And it's not that he is completely wrong, it's just that... it pisses him off to realize "nothing's safe" applies to himself too.
Dick Roman: Nothing is safe, apparently.
This marks the first time we see "Dick Roman" lose his cool and show a flash of his true Leviathan colors.
Dick Roman: Alright, enough! Show yourself. Let's do this like real monsters!
First, there is the verbal acknowledgement that he is one of the monsters. But he slips even further.
Dick Roman: BECAUSE THEY HAVE IT! NOW GET IT BACK! BEFORE THEY FIGURE THE DAMN THING OUT!
Levi!Courier: Please Sir, don't bib me.
Dick Roman: BIB YOU!?!?! WHY WOULD I WASTE A PERFECTLY GOOD MEAL?!
I've commented on this before, so I will try not to repeat myself too much here.
Death: Long before God created Angel and man, he made the first beasts -- the Leviathans.
Dean: Leviathans?
Death: I personally found them entertaining, but he was concerned they'd chomp the entire petri dish, so he locked them away. (7.01)
Death spoke the truth -- the Leviathans may be "clever, poisonous things", but ultimately their appetite fuels their responses. It is no surprise that the first time we see Dick lose his cool it is connected to him indulging his appetite. No brotherly love there. You have an issue with your brother, you eat him.
From monster to monster. Not even Bobby is safe.
He doesn't quality as human anymore. And even reminding himself to stay focused on the innocent ally directly helping them fight against his nemesis, Bobby couldn't maintain. Because... he's not fully Bobby anymore.
His appetite is fueled from a different source, pure rage. Next time, it might be Dean or Sam caught up as collateral damage to an outburst of rage.
Sam: Charlie got her fricking arm broken.
Dean: He didn't mean to do it.
Sam: Exactly. He's not in control. Not about Dick. That was vengeful spirit crap.
Dean; I know. But he's Bobby.
Sam: But if he really goes there he won't be anymore.
Oh dear. Still, if there is one comfort, it is this: Team Free Will still stands. Not the same as before, but... it was never about things staying static. Or even human. Family isn't about blood. And as Dick is beginning to understand the notion of loss and reacts as his kind is wired to, we see the tide beginning to turn for Dean and Sam. They have begun recovering important pieces of their lives they thought they'd lost. Damaged and broken, yes. Nothing's unbreakable, after all. But broken doesn't mean destroyed. Dick is losing his sense of safety because the Winchesters are rebuilding what's been broken.
And finally took something from Dick in turn. Still needing to figure out the meaning, but it's the first successful strike again the Leviathans nonetheless.
RIP Frank Devereaux. You may have been a nutcase, and you are likely deader than a doornail or an unsuccessful Xerox that got eaten for failure to replicate the original, cannot be duplicated mind of this crazy, paranoid, schizophrenic, delusional fringe-dwelling monster-hunter. But you cracked the door into discovering a weakness to exploit with the Leviathans.
Without Frank, we wouldn't have met Charlie. Like minds to... well, like minds. Not exactly, but ... fellow misfits. There are more out there than Dick Roman would credit. Or understand.
Humans. Go figure.
Maybe it's imperfect and still a case of Russian Roulette. Being a master at staying off the grid doesn't keep one safe. Ask Frank. Or Dick. But hey.
Take a moment anyways to raise a glass for the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The trouble-makers. The round heads in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.
Charlie: Why didn't you kill him?
Sam: Because we can't - yet.
Sam and Dean are still working on a way to kill the Leviathans. But they have made progress. They've discovered the usefulness of Borax and decapitation in slowing them down. The next step is to complete the job.
Nothing's unbreakable, nothing's safe. Arms get broken, or minds. And the illusion of safety may be the greatest trap of all. Complacency is what opens the door to successful Xeroxing and herding. The Leviathans don't just view humans as cattle to eat -- they see each other on that same level. It's what separates the Sam's and Dean's and Charlie's of this world. Holding onto that spark of individual, unduplicable identity... that may be the key to changing saving the world.
Sam and Dean don't stop at one job completed. It's bigger than that. They're the ones who are crazy enough to think they can still save the world. I'll drink to that.
Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The trouble-makers. The round heads in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status-quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify, or vilify them. But the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.
-- Jack Kerouac
When one door closes another door opens. Goodbye Frank, hello Charlie. Where one misfit ends, another enters. It doesn't take a college degree. A high school dropout - or GED with a give-'em-hell attitude - are capable of changing the world. How?
Because humans are not simple entities who follow all rules and patterns. Evolution comes from change of the status quo. Those who have that spark dare to be different. Because they are trying to change the world. Or because they like to stir up trouble. Because they want to take over the world. Because they have a problem with authority. Because they want to save the world. Because they want to be themselves. So many different reasons. Motives do not all come from the same source, and are therefore that much more difficult to understand in order to replicate.
Facts. Facts are easy to copy. Run a page through a Xerox machine and you get a perfect duplicate. The Leviathans have this ability. Xeroxing some humans in order to establish their presence invisibly into human society.
Just one tiny hang-up. They can't duplicate us perfectly. They can replicate the facts, the cold hard data of memories. But that spark of individuality... that is solely human. There was an amusing implied meta commentary on how some humans are easy to Xerox because they themselves lack a strong sense of personal identity. Look at Hollyweird, and at how many starlets and "famous for being famous" personalities seem so artificial. Not all humans stand out as unique individuals. Some allow themselves to be dictated to by the whims of whatever is deemed fashionable or popular. Made to order, in a certain sense. Cattle herding themselves onto the bandwagon.
Perfect fodder for Dick Roman's plans. Pull the right strings and you can drive that wagon loaded with unsuspecting meals on legs right into the slaughterhouse for the dinner bell.
But not everyone. There are always those misfits who dare to challenge the status quo. Not because they are all exceptionally brave, or because they are determined to be heroes. Some are not even the good guys. But they stand as unique and capable of making a difference nonetheless.
Dick Roman: Your spark, it's one in a million. Believe me, when you've got it, you invent guns and iPads and viruses and holy crap, you can be crafty. What is that, Charlie? Because I can feed every fact in your brain to someone else and they still wouldn't be able to be you.
Charlie is one such example of unique.
Charlie: Historically, I've had this problem with authority. No offense. So I realized that the only way I could get away with being me was to be as indespensable as possible.
Sam and Dean are another example.
Wait! Woah! Back up. Sam and Dean have already been cloned by the Leviathans. How can we possibly think they are still so unique and individual?
It's quite simple.
In Slash Fiction (7.06) Sam and Dean were cloned factually, but it remained only a superficial copy of the boys. The Leviathans' purpose was not to perfectly copy them, but to replicate details of their history to draw them out into the open. That was all. They didn't clone the essence of Dean and Sam. Didn't even come close. Let's examine the evidence.
Leviathan!Sam: You know I had a brother with this many issues once.
Leviathan!Dean: Yeah?
Leviathan!Sam: You know what I did?
Leviathan!Dean: Mmm?
Leviathan!Sam: I ate him.
Leviathan!Dean: Of course you did.
Leviathan!Dean: I'm not your brother. But I am Dean adjacent.
Leviathan!Dean: You could be anything. You're strong, uninhibited, smart enough - believe it or not - but you're so caught up in being good and taking care of each other! ... You're wasting a perfectly good opportunity to subjugate the weak. (7.06)
The Leviathans don't understand the Winchesters' loyalty to each other. Their love for each other. Brother adjacent -- able to mimic the face but not the heart of Sam and Dean.
They just aren't human. Of course they can't get it.
Dick: You broke the unbreakable. How'd you do it?
Charlie: Nothing's unbreakable, really. Nothing's safe.
Nothing's unbreakable. Nothing's safe. Are these two statements repeating the same idea? Or is there a difference between the two?
Sam and Dean were both broken by Hell. Further chips have been chiseled away by losing key figures that have stood not only as family and home, but as a source of comfort and haven and hope. They still found a way to keep moving on.
Staying safe?
Well, those same losses have represented losing important pieces of their lifes that had once gave them a sense of safety. Castiel. The Impala. Bobby. Dean's growing death wish. Sam's mind.
But Sam and Dean are no strangers to not being "safe". The losses have piled on, but they are not strangers to loss, to knowing there is no real safety out there in the world. They are well aware there are few things they can truly rely on, and everything and everyone has a vulnerability that can be exploited to its breaking point. Been there, done that, last year's news. And the year before. And the year before. And... well. You get my drift.
Dean: Normal people, they see a monster, and they run. But not us, no, no, no, we -- we search out things that want to kill us. Yeah? Huh? Or eat us! You know who does that? Crazy people! We...are insane! (4.06)
Dean: If it bleeds, you can kill it. (7.14)
A lifetime of crazy. Seeking out the very thing that can kill you, in order to kill it first. Before it kills others.
Dick Roman is not used to the idea of not being safe. Of being thwarted. He feels like he is at the top of the food chain. And it's not that he is completely wrong, it's just that... it pisses him off to realize "nothing's safe" applies to himself too.
Dick Roman: Nothing is safe, apparently.
This marks the first time we see "Dick Roman" lose his cool and show a flash of his true Leviathan colors.
Dick Roman: Alright, enough! Show yourself. Let's do this like real monsters!
First, there is the verbal acknowledgement that he is one of the monsters. But he slips even further.
Dick Roman: BECAUSE THEY HAVE IT! NOW GET IT BACK! BEFORE THEY FIGURE THE DAMN THING OUT!
Levi!Courier: Please Sir, don't bib me.
Dick Roman: BIB YOU!?!?! WHY WOULD I WASTE A PERFECTLY GOOD MEAL?!
I've commented on this before, so I will try not to repeat myself too much here.
Death: Long before God created Angel and man, he made the first beasts -- the Leviathans.
Dean: Leviathans?
Death: I personally found them entertaining, but he was concerned they'd chomp the entire petri dish, so he locked them away. (7.01)
Death spoke the truth -- the Leviathans may be "clever, poisonous things", but ultimately their appetite fuels their responses. It is no surprise that the first time we see Dick lose his cool it is connected to him indulging his appetite. No brotherly love there. You have an issue with your brother, you eat him.
From monster to monster. Not even Bobby is safe.
He doesn't quality as human anymore. And even reminding himself to stay focused on the innocent ally directly helping them fight against his nemesis, Bobby couldn't maintain. Because... he's not fully Bobby anymore.
His appetite is fueled from a different source, pure rage. Next time, it might be Dean or Sam caught up as collateral damage to an outburst of rage.
Sam: Charlie got her fricking arm broken.
Dean: He didn't mean to do it.
Sam: Exactly. He's not in control. Not about Dick. That was vengeful spirit crap.
Dean; I know. But he's Bobby.
Sam: But if he really goes there he won't be anymore.
Oh dear. Still, if there is one comfort, it is this: Team Free Will still stands. Not the same as before, but... it was never about things staying static. Or even human. Family isn't about blood. And as Dick is beginning to understand the notion of loss and reacts as his kind is wired to, we see the tide beginning to turn for Dean and Sam. They have begun recovering important pieces of their lives they thought they'd lost. Damaged and broken, yes. Nothing's unbreakable, after all. But broken doesn't mean destroyed. Dick is losing his sense of safety because the Winchesters are rebuilding what's been broken.
And finally took something from Dick in turn. Still needing to figure out the meaning, but it's the first successful strike again the Leviathans nonetheless.
RIP Frank Devereaux. You may have been a nutcase, and you are likely deader than a doornail or an unsuccessful Xerox that got eaten for failure to replicate the original, cannot be duplicated mind of this crazy, paranoid, schizophrenic, delusional fringe-dwelling monster-hunter. But you cracked the door into discovering a weakness to exploit with the Leviathans.
Without Frank, we wouldn't have met Charlie. Like minds to... well, like minds. Not exactly, but ... fellow misfits. There are more out there than Dick Roman would credit. Or understand.
Humans. Go figure.
Maybe it's imperfect and still a case of Russian Roulette. Being a master at staying off the grid doesn't keep one safe. Ask Frank. Or Dick. But hey.
Take a moment anyways to raise a glass for the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The trouble-makers. The round heads in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.
Charlie: Why didn't you kill him?
Sam: Because we can't - yet.
Sam and Dean are still working on a way to kill the Leviathans. But they have made progress. They've discovered the usefulness of Borax and decapitation in slowing them down. The next step is to complete the job.
Nothing's unbreakable, nothing's safe. Arms get broken, or minds. And the illusion of safety may be the greatest trap of all. Complacency is what opens the door to successful Xeroxing and herding. The Leviathans don't just view humans as cattle to eat -- they see each other on that same level. It's what separates the Sam's and Dean's and Charlie's of this world. Holding onto that spark of individual, unduplicable identity... that may be the key to changing saving the world.
Sam and Dean don't stop at one job completed. It's bigger than that. They're the ones who are crazy enough to think they can still save the world. I'll drink to that.