3x04 Dialogue Dissection and Some Quick Thoughts
I usually don't do episode reaction posts because I'm lazy (there I said it). The exception is when I'm much too flaily to go to sleep and therefore must spaz out incoherently on LJ so I don't make a fool of myself in RL. This is what happened with "Heart" for various reasons, mostly involving sweaty flesh. ;) So please forgive me as what follows may not be as coherent as a regular meta. Spoilers for 3x04.
I love mytharc-centric episodes. *hugs the world* And tonight's episode was mytharc exposition gone wild! *hugs Kripke* The shirts came off and backstory was just galloping around unfettered, bouncing off the walls, falling from the sky, and slamming us over the head like giant red and yellow ANVILS. Shall we just call Casey!demon Kripke's mouthpiece? *hugs Casey!demon*
YED aka Azazel, hello! How awesome is that? Recall that John had some fun with jumbo sidewalk chalk in "IMToD" and drew Azazel's sigil. Then who comes strolling in but ... ta da! YED with his jazz hands. *hugs dead!YED* Cheers and much love for the show's continuity. But what makes me really happy is that this undoubtedly confims that:
1. Clue dropping is happening way in advance of plot reveals (John sketching Azazel's sigil happened 25 episodes ago).
2. There is much research/methodical thinking going on behind the scenes so that any "real" mytharc-related clues dropped have a decent likelihood of being relevant and inline with later events. Now finding the "real" clues is an entirely different issue. BUT...
How many puzzle pieces are there just lying around, waiting for people to pick up? :)
This is like Crossroad Blues all over again. Back in mid-S2 I wondered why there was so much red and yellow in that episode (it has the most red/yellow in any episode to date, including 3x02) when the RED seemed to be just a minor demon with no overt ties to the mytharc or Meg!demon or the YED. It made me almost throw out the whole yellow/red denotes demon meta I was working on. Then AHBL-2 came along and Kripke demonstrates that there was something hugely significant with Crossroad Blues (hello, red and yellow anvils) and that yes, we should've been paying attention 14 episodes prior to AHBL-2. Silly us for not realizing it at the time. ;)
Kripke was also dropping gigantor clues about Sam the half demon way back in S1. For example:
Nightmare (1x14)
Dean: “Our family’s not cursed. We’ve just had our dark spots”
Sam: “Our dark spots are pretty dark.”
Dean: “You’re … dark.”
Hunted (2x10)
Gordon: “This demon tells me there are soldiers to fight in this coming war. Humans, fighting on hell's side. You believe that? I mean, they're psychics, so they're not exactly pure humans..."
Gordon: "Your brother, he thinks you're some kind of saint*."
Sam: "Yeah, well, I wouldn't be so sure."
Gordon: "See that's what I said."
*Consider the relationship between saints and angels here and their opposites (people who can't be "saved" and demons). This once again brings up the free will vs. destiny debate. *groans*
Then there's the bomb that was dropped last season that resurfaced in 3x04 with Dean and Bobby's conversation about Sam not being himself.
AHBL-2 (2x22)
The YED: "Are you certain that what you brought back is 100% pure Sam?"
But the reason I bring that all up is because the following lines from tonight's episodes resonated with the deep, dark "dun dun dunnn" that just screams FORESHADOWING to me. If Kripke's done it before (see above), he's likely to do it again. :)
Sin City (3x04)
Ruby: “You’re gonna have to do things that go against that gentle nature of yours. They’ll be collateral damage. But it has to be done.”
Sam: “But I won't have to like it.”
Ruby: “No. You wouldn’t be Sam if you did. On the bright side, I”ll be there with you. That little fallen angel on your shoulder.”
So there are a number of disturbing things about these lines:
1. Ruby obviously has a (decently thought out) PLAN that involves Sam doing things he normally wouldn't do, things that involve collateral damage. And with all Sam's talk about saving the demon possessed humans in S1 and 2 and now his twitchy trigger finger in tonight's episode and his ensuing angst, it would seem like the killing demons and the people they possess might be "the collateral damage".
Which brings up an interesting side note that is another meta on it's own: Why would Ruby want to kill other demons? Is she part of this non-YED aligned demon group that Casey!demon spoke of or is Ruby rogue demon "jostling for a postion" with some plan to "get" Sam or is she just a rogue demon with her own plan? Is she just nudging Sam down some path of darkness, fulfilling destiny? :(
2. Sam's words insinuate that he WILL do "these things" even if he won't like it. Aww, Sam, Dean really is your weakness. *pets* However, how chilling/desperate is that? *is worried for Sam*
This is the second time Sam shooting a person has been referred to as "cold". The first time it was said by the YED in AHBL-2 shortly after Sam shot Jake; the second time it was voiced by Dean near the end of tonight's episode. Also notice the similarities between the two shooting scenes. Forgive me because I'm just working from memory here, but I bet if you break down the AHBL-2 Sam shooting scene and tonight's Sam shooting scene they'll feature similar camera angles (minus the extreme close of up Sam's blood-speckled face only seen in AHBL-2). What struck me as being almost identical was the mid shot of Sam with his arm stretched out holding the gun (rack-focus?) and then a close up shot of Dean's face. Dean's facial expression is almost identical in both episodes; it's a look of surprise and almost-horror and what might be trepidation. Aww, Dean. *pets* I know I'm beating the stupid cinematography angle yet again, but there are specific reasons that shot are purposefully duplicated, most of them being to elicit an unconscious assocation/familiarity or an emotional response. None of this is ever accidental. Nor is repeated dialogue.
3. "You wouldn't be Sam if you did." I don't know about anyone else but my brain immediately flew to "Sam will at one point in the season glean some sort of satisfaction from killing a demon and be unremorseful about "the collateral damage", and therefore this will signal his dark turn where Sam begins not to be HIMSELF." Then I think I wet my pants.
4. "I”ll be there with you." Apparently, Ruby is going to be along for the ride so to speak. And it seems that she'll likely be playing the instigator, pushing Sam or at least tugging him along with her "Save Dean" carrot on a stick dangling in front of his nose. And Sam doesn't deny this! If he makes some demonic pact with Ruby I will probably scream at the TV and wet my pants (again).
5. "That little fallen angel on your shoulder.” Ruby's last line makes me curious. Recall that when Lucifer/Satan was cast out of Heaven he took with him part of the Heavenly Host, 3 out of the 12 legions of angels. They then became the legions of Hell, literally fallen angels. So I've been asking this same question for a year and will continue to be annoying and persistent until we're given a definitive answer: How exactly are demons "made"? I hypothesize a litte bit about this in this meta and how it could relate to evil!Sam and be foreshadowed by his yellow color association. I have to pause here and point out the overly yellow motel room in this episode, which again featured mirrors and Damask wallpaper with stylized representations of flowers (hello again, yellow flower motif and Sam) both of which were in the yellow and red hotel room in 3x02 (also note the yellow flowered bedspread and the weird box of yellow/orange and red flowers also in 3x02 motel room; hello again, yellow flower motif and Sam). OK, the self-indulgent tangent is over. *grins* But with Ruby's line above, could Kripke be hinting at an answer to the 'how are demons made" questions? Are demons fallen angels or are they created another way or are there multiple ways of creating them? And are all demons created the same way (YED, RED, BEDs)? Could Krikpe be dropping clues again?
Screencap from leggyslove.
More interesting tid bits. According to Wikipedia:
"During the Middle Ages, many other schema were proposed, some drawing on and expanding on Pseudo-Dionysius, others suggesting completely different classifications. One of these divisions is offered by Sebastian Michaelis, who divided demons in three hierarchies (first, second and third), not making allusion to their rulers (see Michaelis' classification of demons).
Does the three-tiered hierarchy sound familiar? The YED, the RED, and the many BEDs? Note that Casey!demon confirmed that demons have a stratification with YED in the lead, followed by the "winning PsyKid" (Sam), and then a host of willing demon followers. In AHBL-2 the RED said that she could get in trouble for deal making with Dean which implies that there's a demon that outranks her who could impose some sort of punishment. So it seems that perhaps it goes something like this: the YED (now dead), Sam (leader of an army) who supposedly replaces the YED, the RED, and many BEDS (an army), not all of which were onboard with the YED aka Azazel's plan and don't want to be bossed around by Sam.
Also from Wikipedia:
Soon this division took another sense, and nobility titles were granted to demons as if they were part of an earthly monarchy. Demons were Great Marshals, Knights, Presidents, Great Presidents, Earls, Great Earls, Dukes, Great Dukes, Marquises, Great Marquises, Princes, Great Princes, Kings, Great Kings, and the ruler of all them the Emperor."
FYI, as mentioned by Bobby in 3x01, there really is a Binsfield's Classification of Demons based on the 7 deadly sins XD! Oh, show you rule. (Am I the last person to discover this in the fandom?)
Do demonic nobility titles (Kings, Great Kings) also sound familiar? Hello Boy King, Sam. Also notice that "Kings" are second in command to the Emperor in the scheme as was an unknowning Sam to Azazel. Show, you rule so very much; if you were real and tangible I would hug you. *attempts to hug fictional show*
And finally here's a bit about the name Samael (Samuel) and its demonic/angelic context that I put together last season for a meta that I dropped. It's full of notes to myself mostly from S2 as it never made it to a final draft, but I think the points and relationships are relatively clear and I'm too tired to redraft it into something truly presentable (plus this post isn't a REAL meta as it's mostly a product of free assocation and some quick skimming on Wikipedia):
Acording to rabbinic sources (the Talmud - a record pertaining to Jewish law/ethics), the ruler of demons was Samael, the angel of death and wrath ("This thing killed Jess. This thing killed mom blah blah" wrathful/vengeful Sam). Samael is supposedly the angelic name of the Devil (a nice balance of opposites here? Sam/YED?). "[In Jewish lore] Samael is also sometimes identified as being the angelic antagonist that wrestled Jacob at Esau, and as being the angel that held back the arm of Abraham as he was about to sacrifice his son (seems like Samael has a saving people thing). He is considered part of the heavenly host with often grim and destructive duties (*coughhuntercough*) and a fallen angel, equateable with Satan and the chief of the evil spirits, but remains one of the Lord's servants (Hi, I'm Sam and really think I'm good, but I feel like there's darkness inside of me. Maybe a bit of both?). As a good angel (!), Samael supposedly resides in the seventh heaven, although he is declared to be the chief angel of the fifth heaven.
From the Judeo-Christian usage of demon, the daemons ("replete with knowledge", "divine power", "fate" or "god" ... sound similar to psychic powers?) of Greek mythology were good or malevolent "supernatural beings between mortals and gods (human/supernatural hybrids?
sadelyrate and I discussed this in her post in reference to Gordon saying, "they're psychics, so they're not exactly pure humans."), such as inferior divinities and ghosts of dead heroes (we've seen hero!Sam on occassion). Certain types of daemons called eudaemons were identified with angels.
It's interesting that in some circles the word demon (or its derivative) isn't necessarily considered 100% evil. In Christian tradition demons are fallen angels, so demonology could be considered a branch of angelology. And how does one create an "angel"? By death (eta: note Sam's foray into the unknown in AHBL-1 and 2). But it's clear by the fact that the majority of demon lore that demons have the capacity for nasty evil. BTW, there are also bad daemons called kakodaemons that nicely balance the angelic eudaemons. Could this be the choice vs destiny thing (choosing not to be evil?)? Could this be the yet unseen "good guys" that counterbalance the YED, RED, BEDs? Could this be tied to Mary, Ava, and the rose motif and their combined religious Mary, mother of Jesus, references? All I know is that it's nice when elements in a story have symmerty and are balanced, good vs bad.
I have nothing more coherent to say about this episode. Now bed is calling me. But just for fun, here are two lines that I found worrisome from S1 and 2. And considering the dark path Sam is heading down as hinted by dialogue in this episode, they make me want to wet my pants.
Shadow (1x16)
Sam: “I’m not going to live this life forever. Dean, when this is all over, you’re going to have to let me go my own way.”
Hunted (2x10)
Sam: “If you’re not careful one day you will have to waste me, Dean.”
*hugs Sam*
eta: *hugs Dean*
hugemind, as I mentioned before, this is a prime example why I should never write "opinion based" meta.