Tension, Conflict, Motivation, and Plot: Why the Story is About Dean and We Do Know Sam
I wrote a meta thingy! :)
There’s been avid discussion about Sam and Dean and which of them, if either, seems to be favored by Kripke as well as debate about “who is the story really about”. I’ve noticed there’s been a propensity for some self-proclaimed “Dean girls” and “Sam girls” to run circles around each other, trying to prove their points. ( Read more... )
There’s been avid discussion about Sam and Dean and which of them, if either, seems to be favored by Kripke as well as debate about “who is the story really about”. I’ve noticed there’s been a propensity for some self-proclaimed “Dean girls” and “Sam girls” to run circles around each other, trying to prove their points. ( Read more... )
I wanted to pick up this point because as one who has been unhappy in the past about Dean not being tied to the plot as much as well as felt that Sam being the plot hindered his characterization, I found myself even more unhappy this Season ( ... )
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What was thus left was more characterization that frankly was nothing new to meI thought this was true in early S3 when Dean was running around with his indestructible hamburger-eating face. It was frustrating to see Sam and Dean locked in the same argument every week; I was so relieved when they had their communication break through in "Fresh Blood". However, I think mid-S3 has begun to show us new parts of Dean's psyche. "DaLDoM" showed us a new Dean who could assert things about John and himself that were a far cry from what we've heard in "Skin", "BUaBS", and "AHBL-2". "TKAA" showed us a side of Dean that longed for the "normal", something I can't remember seeing before. I think "Sin City" peeled away his macho layer and showed his terrified, doubtful side; I found ( ... )
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Oh god, I hated his depiction at the start of the Season to be frank. And I got the "he is trying to act as if nothing happened" part but the broad comic-esque carricature of it coupled with a - as I noticed - amped up frat-up humour of the show in general (gay comments, asses on nickels, doublemint twins) drove me up the walls. He always used to be flirty and womanizing but there was a certain boyish charme to it, suddenly we were living in sleazeville.
I agree that Fresh Blood marked a positive shift and I felt relief at having a character back I could like again. Dean has always been my emotional in into the show, starting from the Pilot and being presented with the early Season 3 version left me out in the cold.
"DaLDoM" showed us a new Dean who could assert things about JohnI felt parts of the writing a bit overdone - John was a Metal fan, really? Or is it just the music of his era that Dean happens to like? Because ( ... )
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It left a bad taste in my mouth, too. I tried not to think too much of it and kept brushing it off, thinking that "the next episode Dean will have a break through" and the humor would get back on track. But my reserve broke with 3x06 and I feared we'd lost Dean to his facade of flippancy and off-color jokes. That episode was the first time I was ever disappointed with The Show. I went into more detail about the offensive humor and Dean's characterization in an episode review if you're interested:
http://bowtrunckle.livejournal.com/24149.html#cutid1
Sorry, I can't concisely recap what I said in this comment because I'm sure I'll run out of room (again).
it was about the issues with his self esteem which has been his single major theme for three years now.This is really interesting because we're talking about the same episode (and probably the same scene: Dean vs. dream! ( ... )
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http://bowtrunckle.livejournal.com/24149.html#cutid1
Thanks for the linkage. :) While it wasn`t the first time I was unhappy the show was missing its potential - All Hell Part II was a crushing disappointment to me - I consider "Red Sky" to be the worst episode so far. And pity that Bela would have had potential as a character but once again we give the "character-making" (6th) episode of the Season to a total newbie writer and voila, we`re in deep guano.
I felt Andries, the new writer, coming from Alias was still writing for Alias, with Sydney/Bela the main character and Dean as the goof partnered up with her. On top of that it suffered from soap ( ... )
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I do believe the deal in a roundabout way will turn out to be a vehicle for the larger arc of Sam`s destiny
I also think the two plots will intersect at some point. The way the series has been constructed does make the demon plot (currently Sam's) the dominant one. What intrigues me is humans damned to Hell become demons. And that seems to be where there could be some wiggle room with respect to how Dean's deal plot merges with the demon plot. Who's to say that Sam will be the only character to be directly linked to demons and, therefore, the main demon plot? *grins*
leaving Dean once again in the role of what would typcially be the love interest in a comics movie - emotional support or blackmail object by the baddies.I like this point. Have you read this ( ... )
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I would be very happy if that was about to change but so far I`m not convinced it will happen. Sadly.
I'm not arguing that Dean doesn't occupy a supporting role, but I don't think it's necessarily as the typical love interest.
Not quite, true, but it is the usual sidekick role which is where my discontent stems from. As this is the reactionary character, the one that doesn`t drive the plot forward, only to distract from it or stall it. And I feel the show`s pacing has suffered for it in the past.
And what I meant by my love interest example is that it is the person at the end of the line. In this story there seem to be too requisites: that be a person whom Sam loves and who loves Sam (to stay). Which could very easily be done by a love interest if they were inclined to write it so.
So would it really be comparable to Sam-and-Dean story if it ceases to be what their story is at it's heart?They could of ( ... )
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Weird. This is exactly what yourlibrarian and I talked about in a parallel thread in this post. She referred me to a meta she wrote that sparked this comment from me (which perhaps is the same point you're making ... dare I say we could be the same wavelength? *wink*):
"You also mention something I didn't touch on here: the reactionary character being largely the motivation tiger. The character bound to the plot is reactionary in the sense they're stuck reacting to external circumstances (the plot), but there needs to be an element of choice, otherwise the story seems fated and loses it's tension (and this is an American story, not European, where free will is practically a requirement). So while the plot tiger is confined to the story and must appear to have choices (drive the boat so to speak), the motivation tiger --whose central drive is usually another character--is stuck being reactionary without the ( ... )
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