Sadism (a.k.a. “Upping the Stakes”): The Heart of Every Drama
I’ve had a primitive incarnation of this meta, which was supposed to be the twin of this meta, festering on my hard drive for years. Because we’re encroaching on the end of yet another season, I thought it would be fun to dust it off and finish it. The original premise (from early S3 … doh!) was about upping the stakes in fiction and how SPN does
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So my wishes for a clear-cut win were not satisfied it seems. Yes, Sam's alive but what's up with him? (I hope nothing, to be honest). And Dean is possibly at his lowest (and wow we thought that we'd reached that a long time ago!).
So back to your question.
Are you referring to "Say 'No' to Lucifer and Michael"? If so, I'm not quite understanding exactly how those two things tie directly into each other. So sorry, sometimes I can be completely dense, but I want to make sure I understand what you mean before I start rambling...
More or less, yes. But I've tended to read the vessel subplot more as a metaphor for Dean and Sam breaking their roles in their (dysfunctional) family dynamic. In every sense this has happened in the finale. Dean, the good little soldier needed to say no to win. Sam the rebel who possibly had always used no as standard reply had to say yes. In any case, the old dynamic is gone. Both Dean and Sam have embraced their deepest fears (losing Sam/becoming a monster) and both have triumphed. Both saved the world with active choices and are left as heroes, sad and a little bit wiser. Sure, they don't know it yet - well, Dean doesn't - but the hint is there that they will get their reward in the end.
Anyway, it seems that we were both right no matter which goals we choose to read this season. The sad thing for me is that I got what I was hoping for, but the idea of Dean having to live with the knowledge that Sam's in hell is possibly one of the worst ending I could have imagined. I surely didn't want that. :(
It would be nice to see the boys learn who they are without constantly living in a state of personal crisis. I'd like to think their relationship would be all the better for it, too.
I'm still holding hope for that to happen next season. In an interview there was something - I won't say what because I don't want to spoil you in case you don't want to be spoiled - that reinforces the possibility of this wish to come true. I truly need it. I don't even care that Dean and Sam end separated by personal choices as long as each know that the other is alive and well in the world.
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