Red Demons and Yellow Psychics: Color Associations and their Role in SPN's Visual Language Part II
More meta. This time about Sam and his demon-like qualities. :)
Although this can be read as a stand-alone meta, reading Part I first might help you make sense of what’s below.
In a previous “WiAWSNB” meta discussing wish!Sam’s association with the color yellow I wrote:
“And I’m just going to say it even though I’m sure everyone has thought about it: the only vibrant yellow in Supernatural reality that strikes me is sulfur and the Yellow-eyed demon (note yellow’s negative meanings: cowardice, deceit, treachery). If anyone else can think of a consistent and reoccurring yellow object or yellow-related person in supernatural reality, please let me know. I’m trying hard not to over interpret yellow, Sam, the YED, and wild speculations about a future evil!Sam.”
I was wrong. It turns out that there’s plenty of yellow in Supernatural’s reality. The majority of the time it’s coupled with red and is used to visually represent demons as discussed in Part I. However, yellow does appear by itself and outside of a demonic context; in these instances it seems to be tied to Sam. I thought it might be interesting to see how far this color association went (if it went anywhere). So what started as a subsidiary and curious observation in “WiAWSNB” and with the keen eyes of
sadelyrate to nudge me forward, this morphed into yet another color meta.
The day the show is shot in black and white will likely be the day I’ll stop yapping about this. *flail*
OOPS, I’LL EAT MY FOOT NOW: SAM AND THE COLOR YELLOW
Sam is the only surviving character associated with the color yellow. Meg!demon was paired with yellow and red, but never yellow alone and the YED and Jake, both yellow associated because of their eye color, are history. The waitress/Greed demon (as specified here), who wore yellow in “The Magnificent Seven” (3x01), was destroyed. Never has Dean or any other of the reoccurring characters besides the ones listed above worn yellow.
Caps from
leggyslove, Screencap Paradise,
bluebear_74,
oxoniensis,
justfreefallin, and
marishna.
Even more interesting is that Sam is linked to yellow in all three manifestations of himself. In “AHBL-1” (2x21) we see baby!Sam’s eyes flash yellow as he ingests the YED’s blood. In “WiaWSNB” (2x20) wish!Sam is surrounded by yellow flowers in multiple scenes (roses, rose paintings, tulips, and an unidentifiable blossom on a tree-like plant in Mary’s house), he wears yellow (first a shirt then a tie), and yellow wallpaper with a white rose print backs only him. In the show’s reality Sam wears yellow in “Simon Said” (2x05) and is surrounded by yellow flowers and other objects on multiple occasions (more on this below). Considering how methodically and consistently other colors have been used, could Kripke and Co. have prescribed yellow as a stand-alone color a special role in the show’s visual story, maybe Velcro-ed it to a certain psychic boy wonder? I’ll outline why I think the answer is a big, fat “YES” in this meta. Then I’ll speculate about what half of the yellow/red combo could mean for our boy king, Sammessiah, in S3. ;)
Caps 2, 3, & 4.
YED’S FAVORITE CRAZY KID AND HIS EMERGING ABILITIES
In addition to being glued to Sam, the color yellow resurfaces repeatedly in episodes featuring Sam’s psychic abilities. Yellow props and set pieces (flowers in particular) are included in frame with Sam and tend to bracket scenes preceding and following his visions.
THE BEGINNING: HOME (1x09)
Because I’m crazy enough to postulate that yellow is linked to Sam and his emerging psychic abilities, let’s start at the beginning. “Home” (1x09) is when Sam first reveals the nature of his nightmares to Dean. It’s the first time we experience one of his precognitive visions, the first time Sam senses his Mary’s presence and sees her as an adult. But most importantly this is the episode where Missouri legitimizes Sam’s powers to the viewers and John confirms that there’s more going on than what the boys know.
Missouri: “That boy. He has such powerful abilities. Why he couldn’t sense his own father, I have no idea.”
Missouri: “John Winchester I could just slap you. Why don’t you go talk to your children?”
John: “I wqnt to. You have no idea how much I want to see them. But I can’t. Not yet. Not until I know the truth.”
This is our first glimpse at the PsyKid story thread hidden behind Kripke’s Master Plan Curtain. Later we find out that John’s truth has everything to do with Sam, his psychic abilities, Mary, and a seemingly dark future involving demons, war, and the YED’s “master plan”. “Home” is also where yellow roses appear for the first time: a vase of long-stemmed yellow roses sits on a table in the corner of the kitchen and is visible over Mary’s left shoulder as she materializes from flame.
Cap 5. Thanks to
sadelyrate for this screencap!
Recall roses are symbolically significant; Mary is associated with pink and red roses whenever we she appears (the pilot (1x01), “CSPWDT” (2x04), “Home” (1x09) and “WiAWSNB”) and wish!Sam is repeatedly linked to yellow flowers (roses and tulips) in “WiAWSNB”. You’re probably asking: okay, smarty pants, if roses and the color yellow are so significant, why do they only appear in this scene despite the fact that a good number of previous scenes were shot in this room? What’s so important about this scene?
I think that it has everything to do with Sam’s psychic abilities further manifesting themselves. The scene starts with the fiery figure walking into the kitchen, sharing the frame with the vase of yellow roses. Dean enters, shields Sam, and aims the rifle. Sam says, “Don’t! Don’t! I know who it is. I can see her now.” Mary emerges from the fire; the yellow roses visible over her shoulder. This scene is important because Sam senses that the fiery figure is Mary before she materializes; this is the first time his abilities have kicked in while he was awake (albeit they’re not visions but something on a lower frequency, a feeling as he describes in “Asylum”). Enter yellow roses.
Admittedly bunch of yellow roses that have three seconds of screen time in one episode may seem inconsequential, but when put in context of Sam’s story and the occurrence of yellow in the forty-five episodes that have aired, an interesting pattern emerges.
PEEKING BEHIND KRIPKE'S CURTAIN: NIGHTMARE (1x14)
After “Home” the next yellow-dominated episode featuring symbolically significant yellow objects is “Nightmare” (1x14) which is also the next time Sam’s abilities appear. The intervening episodes, “Asylum” (1x10), “Scarecrow” (1x11), “Faith” (1x12), and “Route 666” (1x13), are surprisingly monochromatic or blue or green tinted episodes with little to no yellow. And for anyone who has read Part I, note the lack of consistent and overtly paired yellow and red and the lack of a demonic presence in these episodes *grins*.
In “Nightmare”, Sam’s visions operate in overdrive. He has four visions over a course of forty-eight hours and experiences a freak bout of telekinesis. Interestingly, most of his visions are bracketed by yellow objects, props and set pieces. After his first vision Sam wakes in a motel room with a yellow swirl-patterned bedspread and yellow curtains. His second vision features weird, elongate yellow lights that aren’t present in the motel room or his vision. Strangely, they remind me of a pair of yellow eyes--note how the lights and the fireplace resemble a face--similar to the lights that seem to characterize the watching YED in the pilot, “Salvation” (1x21), and “Devil’s Trap” (1x22) as discussed in Part I (sorry, I couldn’t find a cap of this; if you pause you DVD at the right moment, you’ll see the lights/face. And if anyone happens to cap this, I love sharers *suggestive grin*). We know that YED could manipulate dreams as seen in “AHBL-1 and 2”, could he have been responsible for Sam’s visions? But I digress *clears throat*. Before his third vision Sam is staring at a yellow house and is backed by a yellow bush. Sam’s fourth vision about Dean’s death doesn’t have any yellow objects surrounding it or in it, but this is when also when he does his telekinesis thing; if that means anything or not I have no idea *shrugs*.
Caps 6, 7, 8, & 9.
Furthermore, every scene in the Miller house features yellow flowers except for the confrontation in the hall between Max, Sam, and Dean where there looks to be an abstract red and yellow (floral?) painting hanging on the wall. There are multiple vases of yellow blooms in the kitchen and living room that hover in the foreground and background of almost every scene. Notice how the vase in the living room is situated such that the yellow flowers loom over whoever is sitting on the couch (Sam, Max, or Dean). The abundance of flowers aren’t out of the ordinary, but the color choice struck me as peculiar being that yellow isn’t the standard color adopted for funerals and mourning.
Caps 10, 11, 12, 13, & 14.
Other set pieces are conspicuously yellow. The hot tea cup Alice Miller hands Sam has a floral pattern with yellow, pink, and purple flowers on it. The living room couch and recliner are yellow. There are yellow flowers on the lamp next to Max. A bright yellow tea kettle and yellow tea towels are arranged on the stove in the kitchen. In the bedroom where Max shoots himself yellowish floral cross-stitches hang on the wall and the bed is covered in a gold bedspread. Alice wears a gold sweater. I thought I’d also point out that the curtains in the dining room and bedroom are imprinted with a rose pattern (caps 13, 17, and 18).
Caps 15, 16, 17, & 18.
You get the point: “Nightmare” is a puke fest of yellow. And like the plethora of red and yellow visual clues in “Crossroad Blues” (2x08) calling attention to the significance of that episode, I think Kripke and Co. are employing the same “hey, pay attention!” colored flag waving technique here. Why this episode?
Not only are Sam’s psychic abilities becoming more frequent, they’re practically mowing him down. He doesn’t have control over them; they’re making him sweaty (What? That’s a bad thing?). Sam admits to Dean, “I’m scared, man. These nightmares weren’t bad enough now I’m seeing things when I’m awake. And these visions or whatever, they’re getting more intense and painful … why the hell is this happening to me?” We learn that Sam isn’t the only child born in 1983 whose mother died in a ceiling fire and he’s not alone in his sudden supernatural powers. “Nightmare” is literally and figuratively the first glimpse of the nightmare that unfolds for the next season and a half where Sam’s greatest fear of losing control and going darkside begins to debilitate him and Dean’s nightmare of being alone and having to kill his brother are seeded. Elements central to the mytharc are revealed in this episode. This is when Kripke peels back his Master Plan Curtain for a millisecond, yells, “Ta da!” and lets the PsyKid story thread begin to hedge its way to front and center stage. Enter yellow flowers.
BACKSTORY REVEALED: SALVATION (1x21)
Sam’s next set of visions occur in “Salvation” where yellow also pops up again. Note that this episode is also demon heavy and the yellow and red color combination is also present. So instead of pointing out every occurrence of yellow, I’ll just zero in on yellow when it appears without red. Again we get yellow props or backgrounds preceding or during Sam’s visions. After Sam’s first vision when he’s searching for Monica and Rosie’s house, the camera pans over a screen of bright yellow leaves before revealing him. This yellow bush backs only Sam in the following scene with Monica and Rosie. In Sam’s visions, Rosie’s clock and the clown mobile have bright yellow highlights, and a yellow, red, and blue pinwheel that looks very flower-like is shown nine times in three visions.
Caps 19, 20, & 21.
Yellow even dominates scenes where Sam’s psychic abilities are discussed. When it’s revealed to John that Sam is psychic, Sam sits alone in the overwhelmingly yellow kitchen next to a yellow-flowered chair while Dean and John are sitting in the red-themed part of the room.
Caps 22 & 23.
I know the significance of this episode to the mytharc isn’t lost on anybody: blah blah six-month-old babies blah blah signs before nursery fires blah blah this is indeed about Sam despite Dean yelling that it isn’t blah. It’s the fill-in-the-necessary-gaps expository episode and ramp-up to the finale. And to spare everyone from boredom, I’ll just simply say that as Kripke continues to feed us information central to the PsyKid plot, in particular about Sam’s back story, we again get more yellow plants/flowers.
EXPANDING THE STORY: SIMON SAID (2x05) AND CROATOAN (2x09)
The next time Sam has a vision is in “Simon Said” where he wears yellow. Note that the tie is different than the one his wishverse counterpart wore in “WiaWSNB”, so this isn’t a case of wardrobe recycling. Ha, Kripke, the fandom is not easily fooled by your tricky tricks!
Caps 24 & 25. Thanks (again) to
sadelyrate for her awesome screencapping and annotating abilities.
“Simon Said” has an abundance of yellow, red, and blue (a curious color combination that seems to reappear in episodes featuring children) so the yellow theme isn’t as clear cut in as previous psychic episodes. However, the general psychic Sam = yellow everywhere holds true. Sam’s visions still feature yellow objects: yellow-backed signs on the street and the side of the Blue Ridge bus, the yellow extension cords backing Dr. Jennings and the yellow ammunition boxes in the display case at the store. Yellow flame engulfs Holly Beckett as she sets herself on fire. There wasn’t anything yellowish in Sam’s final vision, but … meh … Kripke can’t micromanage everything, eh? ;)
Cap 26.
Yellow seems to also be associated with Andy and Webber/Ansem. When we first meet Andy he’s walking out of a yellow house. On the back of his green robe is a yellow and red embroidered dragon. Every time Webber/Ansem appears, yellow lights hover over his head or linger in the background. This is repeated in the closing scene as Sam spills the beans to Ellen about his psychic powers of DOOM.
Cap 27, 28, 29, & 30.
You’re probably wondering why I keep going on about yellow being exclusively tied to Sam’s abilities and not to all PsyKids. If yellow is intended to visually represent psychic abilities overall or PsyKids collectively, then “Hunted” (2x10)--where Ava has visions but not Sam--should be a yellow episode. But what we get are eyeballs full of blue. This is why I maintain that Kripke is hogging yellow for his favorite geekboy and giving other colored flowery handouts to everyone else, because in “Hunted” there’s very little yellow and that pesky rose motif rears its head again. It appears that Ava is tied to blue roses, Sam is linked to yellow roses, and Mary is associated with red and pink roses. This just seems too convenient to be coincidence, doesn’t it? *is on rose alert for future episodes*
The last episode to date where Sam clutches his head and yells prettily in pain is Croatoan (2x09). Like “Salvation”, this episode is demon-flavored so there is an abundance of red and yellow which makes it hard to separate the solo yellow props/set pieces. Because this meta is getting long, I’m only going to point out the reappearance of yellow flowers on the plates in the Tanner’s kitchen (notice the yellow walls) and the bright yellow tree wallpaper (another yellow plant) in the clinic waiting room (note again the yellow painted walls). The lighting in this episode is conspicuously yellow-tinted as seen in establishing shots of the town and in the scene with Sam facing the demonic-virus-infected nurse; there’s some red in there too because, you know, demons are lurking about. :) Feel free to play the yellow/red version of “Where’s Waldow” with this episode. I bet you can’t go more than five minutes without spotting something. ;)
Caps 31, 32, 33, & 34.
So if you’re still with me and are on board with red + yellow = demons (Part I) AND Sam + yellow = something Kripke has purposefully done in order to foreshadow something unforeseen yet inevitable (Part II) read on here.
I apologize for the length of this meta. I tried to be concise but my mouth got the better of me *is embarassed*
Although this can be read as a stand-alone meta, reading Part I first might help you make sense of what’s below.
In a previous “WiAWSNB” meta discussing wish!Sam’s association with the color yellow I wrote:
“And I’m just going to say it even though I’m sure everyone has thought about it: the only vibrant yellow in Supernatural reality that strikes me is sulfur and the Yellow-eyed demon (note yellow’s negative meanings: cowardice, deceit, treachery). If anyone else can think of a consistent and reoccurring yellow object or yellow-related person in supernatural reality, please let me know. I’m trying hard not to over interpret yellow, Sam, the YED, and wild speculations about a future evil!Sam.”
I was wrong. It turns out that there’s plenty of yellow in Supernatural’s reality. The majority of the time it’s coupled with red and is used to visually represent demons as discussed in Part I. However, yellow does appear by itself and outside of a demonic context; in these instances it seems to be tied to Sam. I thought it might be interesting to see how far this color association went (if it went anywhere). So what started as a subsidiary and curious observation in “WiAWSNB” and with the keen eyes of
sadelyrate to nudge me forward, this morphed into yet another color meta.
The day the show is shot in black and white will likely be the day I’ll stop yapping about this. *flail*
OOPS, I’LL EAT MY FOOT NOW: SAM AND THE COLOR YELLOW
Sam is the only surviving character associated with the color yellow. Meg!demon was paired with yellow and red, but never yellow alone and the YED and Jake, both yellow associated because of their eye color, are history. The waitress/Greed demon (as specified here), who wore yellow in “The Magnificent Seven” (3x01), was destroyed. Never has Dean or any other of the reoccurring characters besides the ones listed above worn yellow.
Caps from
leggyslove, Screencap Paradise,
bluebear_74,
oxoniensis,
justfreefallin, and
marishna.
Even more interesting is that Sam is linked to yellow in all three manifestations of himself. In “AHBL-1” (2x21) we see baby!Sam’s eyes flash yellow as he ingests the YED’s blood. In “WiaWSNB” (2x20) wish!Sam is surrounded by yellow flowers in multiple scenes (roses, rose paintings, tulips, and an unidentifiable blossom on a tree-like plant in Mary’s house), he wears yellow (first a shirt then a tie), and yellow wallpaper with a white rose print backs only him. In the show’s reality Sam wears yellow in “Simon Said” (2x05) and is surrounded by yellow flowers and other objects on multiple occasions (more on this below). Considering how methodically and consistently other colors have been used, could Kripke and Co. have prescribed yellow as a stand-alone color a special role in the show’s visual story, maybe Velcro-ed it to a certain psychic boy wonder? I’ll outline why I think the answer is a big, fat “YES” in this meta. Then I’ll speculate about what half of the yellow/red combo could mean for our boy king, Sammessiah, in S3. ;)
Caps 2, 3, & 4.
YED’S FAVORITE CRAZY KID AND HIS EMERGING ABILITIES
In addition to being glued to Sam, the color yellow resurfaces repeatedly in episodes featuring Sam’s psychic abilities. Yellow props and set pieces (flowers in particular) are included in frame with Sam and tend to bracket scenes preceding and following his visions.
THE BEGINNING: HOME (1x09)
Because I’m crazy enough to postulate that yellow is linked to Sam and his emerging psychic abilities, let’s start at the beginning. “Home” (1x09) is when Sam first reveals the nature of his nightmares to Dean. It’s the first time we experience one of his precognitive visions, the first time Sam senses his Mary’s presence and sees her as an adult. But most importantly this is the episode where Missouri legitimizes Sam’s powers to the viewers and John confirms that there’s more going on than what the boys know.
Missouri: “That boy. He has such powerful abilities. Why he couldn’t sense his own father, I have no idea.”
Missouri: “John Winchester I could just slap you. Why don’t you go talk to your children?”
John: “I wqnt to. You have no idea how much I want to see them. But I can’t. Not yet. Not until I know the truth.”
This is our first glimpse at the PsyKid story thread hidden behind Kripke’s Master Plan Curtain. Later we find out that John’s truth has everything to do with Sam, his psychic abilities, Mary, and a seemingly dark future involving demons, war, and the YED’s “master plan”. “Home” is also where yellow roses appear for the first time: a vase of long-stemmed yellow roses sits on a table in the corner of the kitchen and is visible over Mary’s left shoulder as she materializes from flame.
Cap 5. Thanks to
sadelyrate for this screencap!
Recall roses are symbolically significant; Mary is associated with pink and red roses whenever we she appears (the pilot (1x01), “CSPWDT” (2x04), “Home” (1x09) and “WiAWSNB”) and wish!Sam is repeatedly linked to yellow flowers (roses and tulips) in “WiAWSNB”. You’re probably asking: okay, smarty pants, if roses and the color yellow are so significant, why do they only appear in this scene despite the fact that a good number of previous scenes were shot in this room? What’s so important about this scene?
I think that it has everything to do with Sam’s psychic abilities further manifesting themselves. The scene starts with the fiery figure walking into the kitchen, sharing the frame with the vase of yellow roses. Dean enters, shields Sam, and aims the rifle. Sam says, “Don’t! Don’t! I know who it is. I can see her now.” Mary emerges from the fire; the yellow roses visible over her shoulder. This scene is important because Sam senses that the fiery figure is Mary before she materializes; this is the first time his abilities have kicked in while he was awake (albeit they’re not visions but something on a lower frequency, a feeling as he describes in “Asylum”). Enter yellow roses.
Admittedly bunch of yellow roses that have three seconds of screen time in one episode may seem inconsequential, but when put in context of Sam’s story and the occurrence of yellow in the forty-five episodes that have aired, an interesting pattern emerges.
PEEKING BEHIND KRIPKE'S CURTAIN: NIGHTMARE (1x14)
After “Home” the next yellow-dominated episode featuring symbolically significant yellow objects is “Nightmare” (1x14) which is also the next time Sam’s abilities appear. The intervening episodes, “Asylum” (1x10), “Scarecrow” (1x11), “Faith” (1x12), and “Route 666” (1x13), are surprisingly monochromatic or blue or green tinted episodes with little to no yellow. And for anyone who has read Part I, note the lack of consistent and overtly paired yellow and red and the lack of a demonic presence in these episodes *grins*.
In “Nightmare”, Sam’s visions operate in overdrive. He has four visions over a course of forty-eight hours and experiences a freak bout of telekinesis. Interestingly, most of his visions are bracketed by yellow objects, props and set pieces. After his first vision Sam wakes in a motel room with a yellow swirl-patterned bedspread and yellow curtains. His second vision features weird, elongate yellow lights that aren’t present in the motel room or his vision. Strangely, they remind me of a pair of yellow eyes--note how the lights and the fireplace resemble a face--similar to the lights that seem to characterize the watching YED in the pilot, “Salvation” (1x21), and “Devil’s Trap” (1x22) as discussed in Part I (sorry, I couldn’t find a cap of this; if you pause you DVD at the right moment, you’ll see the lights/face. And if anyone happens to cap this, I love sharers *suggestive grin*). We know that YED could manipulate dreams as seen in “AHBL-1 and 2”, could he have been responsible for Sam’s visions? But I digress *clears throat*. Before his third vision Sam is staring at a yellow house and is backed by a yellow bush. Sam’s fourth vision about Dean’s death doesn’t have any yellow objects surrounding it or in it, but this is when also when he does his telekinesis thing; if that means anything or not I have no idea *shrugs*.
Caps 6, 7, 8, & 9.
Furthermore, every scene in the Miller house features yellow flowers except for the confrontation in the hall between Max, Sam, and Dean where there looks to be an abstract red and yellow (floral?) painting hanging on the wall. There are multiple vases of yellow blooms in the kitchen and living room that hover in the foreground and background of almost every scene. Notice how the vase in the living room is situated such that the yellow flowers loom over whoever is sitting on the couch (Sam, Max, or Dean). The abundance of flowers aren’t out of the ordinary, but the color choice struck me as peculiar being that yellow isn’t the standard color adopted for funerals and mourning.
Caps 10, 11, 12, 13, & 14.
Other set pieces are conspicuously yellow. The hot tea cup Alice Miller hands Sam has a floral pattern with yellow, pink, and purple flowers on it. The living room couch and recliner are yellow. There are yellow flowers on the lamp next to Max. A bright yellow tea kettle and yellow tea towels are arranged on the stove in the kitchen. In the bedroom where Max shoots himself yellowish floral cross-stitches hang on the wall and the bed is covered in a gold bedspread. Alice wears a gold sweater. I thought I’d also point out that the curtains in the dining room and bedroom are imprinted with a rose pattern (caps 13, 17, and 18).
Caps 15, 16, 17, & 18.
You get the point: “Nightmare” is a puke fest of yellow. And like the plethora of red and yellow visual clues in “Crossroad Blues” (2x08) calling attention to the significance of that episode, I think Kripke and Co. are employing the same “hey, pay attention!” colored flag waving technique here. Why this episode?
Not only are Sam’s psychic abilities becoming more frequent, they’re practically mowing him down. He doesn’t have control over them; they’re making him sweaty (What? That’s a bad thing?). Sam admits to Dean, “I’m scared, man. These nightmares weren’t bad enough now I’m seeing things when I’m awake. And these visions or whatever, they’re getting more intense and painful … why the hell is this happening to me?” We learn that Sam isn’t the only child born in 1983 whose mother died in a ceiling fire and he’s not alone in his sudden supernatural powers. “Nightmare” is literally and figuratively the first glimpse of the nightmare that unfolds for the next season and a half where Sam’s greatest fear of losing control and going darkside begins to debilitate him and Dean’s nightmare of being alone and having to kill his brother are seeded. Elements central to the mytharc are revealed in this episode. This is when Kripke peels back his Master Plan Curtain for a millisecond, yells, “Ta da!” and lets the PsyKid story thread begin to hedge its way to front and center stage. Enter yellow flowers.
BACKSTORY REVEALED: SALVATION (1x21)
Sam’s next set of visions occur in “Salvation” where yellow also pops up again. Note that this episode is also demon heavy and the yellow and red color combination is also present. So instead of pointing out every occurrence of yellow, I’ll just zero in on yellow when it appears without red. Again we get yellow props or backgrounds preceding or during Sam’s visions. After Sam’s first vision when he’s searching for Monica and Rosie’s house, the camera pans over a screen of bright yellow leaves before revealing him. This yellow bush backs only Sam in the following scene with Monica and Rosie. In Sam’s visions, Rosie’s clock and the clown mobile have bright yellow highlights, and a yellow, red, and blue pinwheel that looks very flower-like is shown nine times in three visions.
Caps 19, 20, & 21.
Yellow even dominates scenes where Sam’s psychic abilities are discussed. When it’s revealed to John that Sam is psychic, Sam sits alone in the overwhelmingly yellow kitchen next to a yellow-flowered chair while Dean and John are sitting in the red-themed part of the room.
Caps 22 & 23.
I know the significance of this episode to the mytharc isn’t lost on anybody: blah blah six-month-old babies blah blah signs before nursery fires blah blah this is indeed about Sam despite Dean yelling that it isn’t blah. It’s the fill-in-the-necessary-gaps expository episode and ramp-up to the finale. And to spare everyone from boredom, I’ll just simply say that as Kripke continues to feed us information central to the PsyKid plot, in particular about Sam’s back story, we again get more yellow plants/flowers.
EXPANDING THE STORY: SIMON SAID (2x05) AND CROATOAN (2x09)
The next time Sam has a vision is in “Simon Said” where he wears yellow. Note that the tie is different than the one his wishverse counterpart wore in “WiaWSNB”, so this isn’t a case of wardrobe recycling. Ha, Kripke, the fandom is not easily fooled by your tricky tricks!
Caps 24 & 25. Thanks (again) to
sadelyrate for her awesome screencapping and annotating abilities.
“Simon Said” has an abundance of yellow, red, and blue (a curious color combination that seems to reappear in episodes featuring children) so the yellow theme isn’t as clear cut in as previous psychic episodes. However, the general psychic Sam = yellow everywhere holds true. Sam’s visions still feature yellow objects: yellow-backed signs on the street and the side of the Blue Ridge bus, the yellow extension cords backing Dr. Jennings and the yellow ammunition boxes in the display case at the store. Yellow flame engulfs Holly Beckett as she sets herself on fire. There wasn’t anything yellowish in Sam’s final vision, but … meh … Kripke can’t micromanage everything, eh? ;)
Cap 26.
Yellow seems to also be associated with Andy and Webber/Ansem. When we first meet Andy he’s walking out of a yellow house. On the back of his green robe is a yellow and red embroidered dragon. Every time Webber/Ansem appears, yellow lights hover over his head or linger in the background. This is repeated in the closing scene as Sam spills the beans to Ellen about his psychic powers of DOOM.
Cap 27, 28, 29, & 30.
You’re probably wondering why I keep going on about yellow being exclusively tied to Sam’s abilities and not to all PsyKids. If yellow is intended to visually represent psychic abilities overall or PsyKids collectively, then “Hunted” (2x10)--where Ava has visions but not Sam--should be a yellow episode. But what we get are eyeballs full of blue. This is why I maintain that Kripke is hogging yellow for his favorite geekboy and giving other colored flowery handouts to everyone else, because in “Hunted” there’s very little yellow and that pesky rose motif rears its head again. It appears that Ava is tied to blue roses, Sam is linked to yellow roses, and Mary is associated with red and pink roses. This just seems too convenient to be coincidence, doesn’t it? *is on rose alert for future episodes*
The last episode to date where Sam clutches his head and yells prettily in pain is Croatoan (2x09). Like “Salvation”, this episode is demon-flavored so there is an abundance of red and yellow which makes it hard to separate the solo yellow props/set pieces. Because this meta is getting long, I’m only going to point out the reappearance of yellow flowers on the plates in the Tanner’s kitchen (notice the yellow walls) and the bright yellow tree wallpaper (another yellow plant) in the clinic waiting room (note again the yellow painted walls). The lighting in this episode is conspicuously yellow-tinted as seen in establishing shots of the town and in the scene with Sam facing the demonic-virus-infected nurse; there’s some red in there too because, you know, demons are lurking about. :) Feel free to play the yellow/red version of “Where’s Waldow” with this episode. I bet you can’t go more than five minutes without spotting something. ;)
Caps 31, 32, 33, & 34.
So if you’re still with me and are on board with red + yellow = demons (Part I) AND Sam + yellow = something Kripke has purposefully done in order to foreshadow something unforeseen yet inevitable (Part II) read on here.
I apologize for the length of this meta. I tried to be concise but my mouth got the better of me *is embarassed*