3x06 Blatherings
More than anything, this episode left me uneasy. Plot changes I can handle. New characters I can handle. Brother angst I can handle. What seem to me like changes in fundamental characterization and show ethos, I apparently can’t.
Perhaps it’s the fact Raelle Tucker (who, IMHO, was one of the strongest writers for S1/2) has left the writer’s room ( Read more... )
I agree with this and disagree with this (lol, is that possible?). You're right, he can't be the old Dean and let Sam go because the old Dean always put Sam's well-being first. Deep down I think Dean knows exactly how devestating his death would be on Sam, but he's in DENIAL because to acknowledge that would be an admission of guilt and would contradict most everything Dean's done to keep Sam from NOT getting hurt. How ironic, then, is it that it's Dean himself, Sam's protector, who is the one harming him the most.
But this is where I respectfully disagree with you. I think we've seen Dean behave like this before. His dismissiveness, his joke cracking, his inablilty to make eye contact with Sam, the throw away comments about him dying ... it was all in "Faith" (except not to the degree we're seeing now).
He weighed things up when Sam died, decided he wasn't worth it.
Yes, I think Dean's self worth definitely plays a HUGE role in this. I also think that his decision in AHBL-2 was 99% reactionary and done out of panicked desperation and maybe 1% methodical thinking.
And he is not about to revise any of this now without a hell of a push.
Exactly. And that's why we all love Dean. It makes sense that he's pushing so hard against Sam because he's trying to save Sam's life. By Dean giving Sam "permission" to stop the deal would, in Dean's damanged mind, be like him saying that he thinks Sam should die.
Sam's going to have to do something a whole hell of a lot more disturbing for Dean to believe he's got to stick around, that he's the only one able to fix it, that he wants to and needs to live.
An interesting thought. Hmmm. I just accepted the fact that Dean would be resigned to dying to protect Sam that it never really occurred to me that a much better tactic wouldn't be for Sam to save him 100%, but for Dean to realize that he can't die because he needs to save Sam. Gee, this is a much more engaging scenario, and has Dean essentially saving himself in a round about way without him breaking character. *jumps around* Thanks for nudging that idea forward!
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