SPN 6x06
Just fair warning, this is not a meta. There is no logical thinkiness or analysis here, just my knee-jerk reaction and probably a lot of typos.
What?! SHOW, WHAT!? You leave us with that before fading to black?
Seriously?
Sam, for the first time this season, is real, he admits that something is wrong with him, and he ASKS FOR HELP. And then in the next breath Dean beats him to hell.
WTF!?!!!!!!!!!!!
I get that Dean is angry, feels betrayed, is mourning over the loss of his almost family and is probably freaked about Sam potentially "not being human", but fraternal abuse is not really my cup of tea. This wasn't "Levee" when both Sam and Dean were beating the crap out of each other, equally angry. This wasn't "Swan Song" when it was Lucifer pummeling Dean and Dean letting him so he wouldn't leave Sam. This was Sam finally speaking the truth, looking Dean in the eye and asking his brother to help him. And not only does Dean punch Sam, he beats him until he's unconscious. Don't even get me started on how Sam kept looking at Dean all wide-eyed and surprised between punches. JESUS. What?! Last week Show made Sam stand there on purpose and watch Dean get turned into a vampire and this week Show has Dean physically abusing Sam without even giving him a chance to defend himself.
I've watched the brotherly bond fray, the mistrust grow, both Sam and Dean make disastrously bad decisions, each of them go separate ways. Even through they often said or did the wrong thing and they lashed out at each other, they did it because they felt something. And they felt something because they CARED about each other underneath all the other messy emotions. What's been happening lately is not because they care about each other. Sam let Dean get turned because he can't feel, can't care about anything. Dean beat Sam not because he cared about Sam, but out of anger and vengeance over losing Lisa and Ben (something that I think was equally Dean's fault, but more on that later). Furthermore, It wasn't one "knee-jerk reaction accidental" punch ("Bloodlust", "Metamorphosis"), it was a violent act of aggression that continued on and on and on. And it was made worse that it was done in response to Sam finally showing some vulnerability. Are these even the same brothers who loved each other so much they died/sacrificed themselves for each other?
Another issue that could be seeded in this scene is Sam becoming the blame magnet and Dean denying his own culpability for events gone awry. Sam made the decision to let Dean be turned (the implied reason why Dean beat Sam up), but Dean also made the decision to go visit Lisa and Ben in his altered state. One can argue that Dean wasn't himself, he was at the mercy of his urges and, therefore, not to blame. But one can also argue that Sam isn't himself, he physically can't feel anything and, therefore, is not to blame. Alternatively, one could blame both Sam and Dean equally. But I feel like Dean blaming Sam is Show yet again passing the buck and not showing Dean fully owning up to the consequences of his decisions. I'm likely over sensitive to this issue as I feel like Show has not exactly portrayed Sam and Dean's stories in a balanced way in terms of making each of their POVs sympathetic, but this yet again reeks of "something's wrong with Sam and he's to blame" while "Dean must save Sam and is more right than wrong". I hope I'm wrong and now that the Lucifer-Michael story is over and the "good" "bad" duality required for dramatic symmetry is not longer required, we'll get a more balanced perspective. But after waiting and hoping and giving the benefit of the doubt for episode after episode (and season after season) and then getting more and more brother indifference and brother aggression, I'm losing my patience.
So I'm a sap and teared up and was saying, "Ooohhh, nooooooooo," when the punches were being thrown, but now I'm pissed. GIVE ME SOME SEMBLANCE OF THE ESSENCE OF SPN SOON, SHOW! Stop maing Sam and Dean treat each other like their wost enemies. Please. I want to enjoy watching you again and check-out permanently from the Island of Frowny Faces in the Land of Rant.
What?! SHOW, WHAT!? You leave us with that before fading to black?
Seriously?
Sam, for the first time this season, is real, he admits that something is wrong with him, and he ASKS FOR HELP. And then in the next breath Dean beats him to hell.
WTF!?!!!!!!!!!!!
I get that Dean is angry, feels betrayed, is mourning over the loss of his almost family and is probably freaked about Sam potentially "not being human", but fraternal abuse is not really my cup of tea. This wasn't "Levee" when both Sam and Dean were beating the crap out of each other, equally angry. This wasn't "Swan Song" when it was Lucifer pummeling Dean and Dean letting him so he wouldn't leave Sam. This was Sam finally speaking the truth, looking Dean in the eye and asking his brother to help him. And not only does Dean punch Sam, he beats him until he's unconscious. Don't even get me started on how Sam kept looking at Dean all wide-eyed and surprised between punches. JESUS. What?! Last week Show made Sam stand there on purpose and watch Dean get turned into a vampire and this week Show has Dean physically abusing Sam without even giving him a chance to defend himself.
I've watched the brotherly bond fray, the mistrust grow, both Sam and Dean make disastrously bad decisions, each of them go separate ways. Even through they often said or did the wrong thing and they lashed out at each other, they did it because they felt something. And they felt something because they CARED about each other underneath all the other messy emotions. What's been happening lately is not because they care about each other. Sam let Dean get turned because he can't feel, can't care about anything. Dean beat Sam not because he cared about Sam, but out of anger and vengeance over losing Lisa and Ben (something that I think was equally Dean's fault, but more on that later). Furthermore, It wasn't one "knee-jerk reaction accidental" punch ("Bloodlust", "Metamorphosis"), it was a violent act of aggression that continued on and on and on. And it was made worse that it was done in response to Sam finally showing some vulnerability. Are these even the same brothers who loved each other so much they died/sacrificed themselves for each other?
Another issue that could be seeded in this scene is Sam becoming the blame magnet and Dean denying his own culpability for events gone awry. Sam made the decision to let Dean be turned (the implied reason why Dean beat Sam up), but Dean also made the decision to go visit Lisa and Ben in his altered state. One can argue that Dean wasn't himself, he was at the mercy of his urges and, therefore, not to blame. But one can also argue that Sam isn't himself, he physically can't feel anything and, therefore, is not to blame. Alternatively, one could blame both Sam and Dean equally. But I feel like Dean blaming Sam is Show yet again passing the buck and not showing Dean fully owning up to the consequences of his decisions. I'm likely over sensitive to this issue as I feel like Show has not exactly portrayed Sam and Dean's stories in a balanced way in terms of making each of their POVs sympathetic, but this yet again reeks of "something's wrong with Sam and he's to blame" while "Dean must save Sam and is more right than wrong". I hope I'm wrong and now that the Lucifer-Michael story is over and the "good" "bad" duality required for dramatic symmetry is not longer required, we'll get a more balanced perspective. But after waiting and hoping and giving the benefit of the doubt for episode after episode (and season after season) and then getting more and more brother indifference and brother aggression, I'm losing my patience.
So I'm a sap and teared up and was saying, "Ooohhh, nooooooooo," when the punches were being thrown, but now I'm pissed. GIVE ME SOME SEMBLANCE OF THE ESSENCE OF SPN SOON, SHOW! Stop maing Sam and Dean treat each other like their wost enemies. Please. I want to enjoy watching you again and check-out permanently from the Island of Frowny Faces in the Land of Rant.