5.22 Meta - The Epic Love Story of Sam and Dean
I should probably go to bed. I'm worn out and full of pie and perhaps a little tipsy. But I couldn't sleep if I wanted to, because this episode has got me all worked up. In a good way.
I understand a lot of the anger in fandom. Stuff didn't go exactly as we expected. For one, nobody really died. For another, Eric Kripke made himself God and kept insulting his own fandom. The show continued to try to make a one-night-stand matter, without actually giving her a personality. Cas and Bobby were hardly around. These are all valid complaints.
But they weren't the heart of the episode; they were basically insignificant (which, if you were a fan of supporting characters, may be part of the problem).
What this episode was about was the conclusion of the epic love story of Sam and Dean. About them growing up, and into each other. This episode was about trust, acceptance and forgiveness. For once Dean was following Sam not to save him, not because he didn't trust him, but just to be with him while he died.
When Sam jumped into that pit, he and Dean truly understood each other for the first time. Say what you will about the montage, I thought it was beautiful. They carved their initials together, guys. SW + DW forever, that's what this episode was about. And it did that, beautifully. We got to see not only what we already knew about what they'd hunted and fought together - but also what we hadn't seen - going to concerts, sports games, staring at the stars for hours without saying a word. (Read: dating). This show has always been about family - and a love a little more intense than ordinary family - and the show gave us that here.
This episode was entirely about love. Their was no anger between the boys, not even guilt or bitterness. There was remarkably little violence in the whole thing, even. The killing of the demons (both the ones Sam needed for blood, and the Azazel's minions) was done offscreen, as was Sam's blood-drinking. Cas and Bobby's deaths were startlingly brief. It was all loving (albeit tragic) dialogue. The one moment of violence - Samifer beating Dean against the Impala - was quickly followed by the Epic Montage of More-Than-Brotherly Love. Even Michael and Lucifer didn't fight. Because in this episode, Supernatural wasn't a horror show, or even a fantasy, it was a romance.
And then there's the Impala, mythic location of all the boys have been through together, not just in the five years we've been watching, but well before that. Here the ultimate masculine symbol becomes instead domestic - where Sam, Dean and their hearts have always lived, where children played with toys and where the toys remain. It really is a home, not a car or a weapon. What I've always loved about Supernatural is that it takes typically masculine tropes - classic rock, classic cars, sex and violence - and combines them with an emphasis on family, love, and soap opera worthy melodramatics to create something new, interesting and oddly subversive.
Which brings us to the Dean and Lisa bit, which I quite frankly thought was kind of fantastic. Chuck's voice-over makes it clear that Dean wants to either save Sam or die, but instead he chooses to keep him promise - to finally trust Sam, as a grown up, as he said he would at the beginning of the episode. Dean isn't choosing Lisa over Sam, he's choosing Lisa for Sam, because he's letting Sam take the reigns for once. Isn't this what we've asked for all season? And I don't think we need to worry about Dean's heteronormative domestic bliss lasting for long, nor do I think the show expects us to buy that. Dean is not happy there - he's doing what Sam told him to do, because he loves Sam and because he promised he would.
There was nothing tough about this episode. It wasn't trying to blow shit up, or go down in history, or be epic. It was just about Sam and Dean - finally - being together, even as they were sure they would both die. So it's not what we expected - and maybe that feels like a letdown at first - but Supernatural has always been a love story dressed up as action/horror. They just didn't bother putting the mask on tonight.
Tonight we saw the end of our love story, and it was actually a happy ending. Our boys came to understand, trust and most importantly love one another as adults worthy of the love they shared as children, and everything else they've been through since. I can't think of a better ending.
Edited to ask: Where the heck is one supposed to go to post meta in this fandom? Are there meta-specific comms anywhere?
Edited (the next morning) to add: Wow guys I'm so overwhelmed by all the response this post is getting. I wrote it out of love for the Boys, inspired by their love for each other, and I'm getting tons of love back from all of you. That's kind of neat. So I'm gonna try to respond back to everyone, but in the meantime: thanks. I love this fandom.
Screencap credit to ckll
I understand a lot of the anger in fandom. Stuff didn't go exactly as we expected. For one, nobody really died. For another, Eric Kripke made himself God and kept insulting his own fandom. The show continued to try to make a one-night-stand matter, without actually giving her a personality. Cas and Bobby were hardly around. These are all valid complaints.
But they weren't the heart of the episode; they were basically insignificant (which, if you were a fan of supporting characters, may be part of the problem).
What this episode was about was the conclusion of the epic love story of Sam and Dean. About them growing up, and into each other. This episode was about trust, acceptance and forgiveness. For once Dean was following Sam not to save him, not because he didn't trust him, but just to be with him while he died.
When Sam jumped into that pit, he and Dean truly understood each other for the first time. Say what you will about the montage, I thought it was beautiful. They carved their initials together, guys. SW + DW forever, that's what this episode was about. And it did that, beautifully. We got to see not only what we already knew about what they'd hunted and fought together - but also what we hadn't seen - going to concerts, sports games, staring at the stars for hours without saying a word. (Read: dating). This show has always been about family - and a love a little more intense than ordinary family - and the show gave us that here.
This episode was entirely about love. Their was no anger between the boys, not even guilt or bitterness. There was remarkably little violence in the whole thing, even. The killing of the demons (both the ones Sam needed for blood, and the Azazel's minions) was done offscreen, as was Sam's blood-drinking. Cas and Bobby's deaths were startlingly brief. It was all loving (albeit tragic) dialogue. The one moment of violence - Samifer beating Dean against the Impala - was quickly followed by the Epic Montage of More-Than-Brotherly Love. Even Michael and Lucifer didn't fight. Because in this episode, Supernatural wasn't a horror show, or even a fantasy, it was a romance.
And then there's the Impala, mythic location of all the boys have been through together, not just in the five years we've been watching, but well before that. Here the ultimate masculine symbol becomes instead domestic - where Sam, Dean and their hearts have always lived, where children played with toys and where the toys remain. It really is a home, not a car or a weapon. What I've always loved about Supernatural is that it takes typically masculine tropes - classic rock, classic cars, sex and violence - and combines them with an emphasis on family, love, and soap opera worthy melodramatics to create something new, interesting and oddly subversive.
Which brings us to the Dean and Lisa bit, which I quite frankly thought was kind of fantastic. Chuck's voice-over makes it clear that Dean wants to either save Sam or die, but instead he chooses to keep him promise - to finally trust Sam, as a grown up, as he said he would at the beginning of the episode. Dean isn't choosing Lisa over Sam, he's choosing Lisa for Sam, because he's letting Sam take the reigns for once. Isn't this what we've asked for all season? And I don't think we need to worry about Dean's heteronormative domestic bliss lasting for long, nor do I think the show expects us to buy that. Dean is not happy there - he's doing what Sam told him to do, because he loves Sam and because he promised he would.
There was nothing tough about this episode. It wasn't trying to blow shit up, or go down in history, or be epic. It was just about Sam and Dean - finally - being together, even as they were sure they would both die. So it's not what we expected - and maybe that feels like a letdown at first - but Supernatural has always been a love story dressed up as action/horror. They just didn't bother putting the mask on tonight.
Tonight we saw the end of our love story, and it was actually a happy ending. Our boys came to understand, trust and most importantly love one another as adults worthy of the love they shared as children, and everything else they've been through since. I can't think of a better ending.
Edited to ask: Where the heck is one supposed to go to post meta in this fandom? Are there meta-specific comms anywhere?
Edited (the next morning) to add: Wow guys I'm so overwhelmed by all the response this post is getting. I wrote it out of love for the Boys, inspired by their love for each other, and I'm getting tons of love back from all of you. That's kind of neat. So I'm gonna try to respond back to everyone, but in the meantime: thanks. I love this fandom.
Screencap credit to ckll