"You know me. I'm not leaving my brother alone out there."
I apologize for the delay in this post, and also for not having read anyone else's reactions yet. I waited for two reasons. First, I wanted to do a rewatch. Second, I wanted to let some of my thoughts settle before I posted. Early in the season I have a tendency to speak too soon, and say stuff I didn't mean.
Pretty much all positive below.
Let's get the big one out of the way first: Obviously that was not the option I would have chosen for Cas. I was firmly on team human!Cas. The direction they've taken him isn't my Cas. However, he's not actually that far off. This Cas is my reading of Cas with one or two different choices, but with a lot of the same concerns, obsessions, weaknesses. It's actually really interesting thinking of going back to editing my Big Bang now. Obviously that Cas is going to diverge significantly from canon, but I've still written in a lot of really eerie details about Cas' relationship to power and to Dean letting him have power, for example.
I was pissed after my first watch, I'll admit, because I'd become really attached to the idea that Cas was going to make the right decision. On rewatch, I'm actually pretty excited by this turn of events. That choice for Cas is still on the horizon, and I think we'll see him making it in S7. I thought he would make the call sooner rather than later, but the writers think he has a bit farther to fall before he hits rock bottom. I'm OK with that; it approaches the limits of even my angst tolerance, but it doesn't cross.
What I find really fascinating is just how much of Cas' metaphorical fall from grace was caused by Cas' emotional response to Sam and (mostly) Dean. Before 6x20 I was sure that Cas' fate was going to hinge on him choosing between love and duty. I thought love was going to be the thing that saved him. As it turns out, love actually drove him to it. Losing his friends one by one, being isolated and feeling betrayed but still loving, tragically, people who couldn't love him back ("I wish this changed anything") is what drove him to hold on to all the power he could find, to embrace his isolation as something that sets him above, not just apart ("I have no family").
And of course this all makes perfect sense. Until very recently (especially when we consider how old Cas is) Cas had never felt any real emotion. His feelings about Dean in particular were presented as startling and uncomfortable for him, and he's spent the season muddling along trying to find out what friendship means, and then what family means, with no experience and no guidance. He loved passionately and intensely and with a single-minded focus. Humans, though they spend their whole lives surrounded by love, still manage to get it wrong a lot of the time (hell, look at Sam and Dean). Cas, loving for the first time ever, pretty much self-destructed with it.
It does read as a love story to me. And there will always be that tiny, insane part of me that hopes they go there with Dean and Cas. It's hard not to code the last three episodes of the season romantically - all the visual, emotional, and verbal cues that usually signal tragic romance are right there. It would make perfect sense to me, as a narrative and as a character arc. Now, realistically I know it's not going to happen, and it's just going to be SPN doing its usual, wonderful job of mixing soap opera melodrama into a show about monsters and classic rock. But I still ache, just a little, for what could've been if not for the rules of network television. Because these two aren't brothers.
So, in conclusion, Cas was the most well-executed storyline of the entire season, hands down.
Things I really liked:
I really enjoyed Sam's dream world, and the idea of him needing to integrate himself. I got all gleeful at Sam and robo!Sam meeting. I have no idea what kind of consequences this integration will have on Sam in future, if any, but I think that's a really interesting line for fic to investigate over the summer. The reveal of what Robin represents was startling to me, and emotionally effective.
I'm sort of pumped that we got our first unequivolcally good monster in Ellie. I'm also sad we lost her so quickly, but it was nice to get a bit of a romance story for Bobby.
The Lisa and Ben memory wipe was the best call the show could have made at this point. It's a believable end-point to their story, and it's appropriately angsty as fuck.
(Also, can we talk about how fucking spectacular demon!Lisa calling Dean a "C minus lay" and "Tiny Tim" was? I laughed my fucking ass off. Because you know what? Dean could be bad in bed. Girls go home with him because he's hot (male model type lol) and good at picking them up, but he's usually only with them the one night. There's no chance for them to reject him if he doesn't live up to expectations. I want millions of fics about this.)
Balthazar and Crowley snark was particularly well-written in these two. Gamble and Kripke have smarmy banter down to an art form. Crowley's phone call to Dean, from "Jolly Green" to "the peanut butter in my chocolate" to signing off with "kisses!" was pure gold. Crowley's terms of endearment with Cas, and "Have you forgotten who's the bottom in this relationsip?" (Fandom shoutout?) were similarly brilliant. And "Exit stage Crowley" made me snort. Balthazar's "You bastards!" was great, and it was a nice bit of fanservice to call Sam sleeping beauty and suggest that Dean might've stolen some kisses. Basically, SPN does morally and sexually ambiguous baddies really, really well.
I love it when they get a chance to take advantage of shooting in BC and actually use forests. Sam vs. robo!Sam was very nicely shot, and Cas and Balthazar in the forest actually took my breath away a bit it was so beautiful and otherworldly.
There were some really, truly excellent performances in these episodes. Mark was his usual awesome, and Seb Roche made an unlikely character turn believable for me. Jared facing himself was wonderful, especially in the contrast between our Sam and Robo!Sam. I was even impressed by Cindy Sampson's evil turn.
But really, let's talk about Jensen Ackles and Misha Collins for a second here, because...wow. Jensen had a lot of weight to carry, and several different personal tragedies to deal with. I know I'm biased guys, but I really think he's just a really, really, talented actor. The hospital scene so wonderfully understated - I'm glad they chose not to give us actual tears. AND THEN THERE'S EVERY SCENE MISHA AND JENSEN DID TOGETHER, AND HOLY FUCK THEY DESERVE THE FIRST CAPSLOCK OF THIS POST. The tension and the pain and the frustration in them both was so thick. When I'm frustrated I get these cramps in my legs, and I started to have them on behalf of both Dean and Cas. And Misha, with all the layers he had to portray, a simultanenous sort of desperate softness and bitter, hardened resolve. I'm fascinated by the little things choices in his performance. Like the sidelong look powered-up!Cas gives Dean as Dean gets to his feet in the final scene. What does it mean?! As much as he tends to downplay his own work, I think Misha knows this character inside-out and backwards. The creepy soft-spokenness of the final scene gives me chills.
SamnDean. My Big Bang opens with Dean sitting over Sam's bed in the panic room. I LOVE DEAN SITTING OVER SAM'S BED IN THE PANIC ROOM. I loved the way Dean touched Sam's chest when Sam started seizing, I love the way Dean talks to Sam like he knows some part of him can hear. At a con awhile back Jared was asked something about what his favourite Sam line is, and he said it was in the finale and that it sums up what his character is all about. I can't imagine it's anything other than "I'm not leaving my brother alone out there." AND I HAVE NOTHING ELSE TO SAY. IT'S PERFECT.
Did any one else get inappropriately turned on by coma!Sam's air humping and the way it made his shirt ride up? Anyone?
And speaking of pervy... "You will bow down and profess your love unto me, your lord." Mmmm, yes please. Which brings me to...
On summer fic potential: First thing's first, we were spoiled last year. Swan Song's ending was like fanfic nirvana, for everyone. There was really no way to duplicate that kind of magic. This ending is clearly a better setup for Cas-focused fic, but that's not to say there's no space for Sam/Dean, especially if we explore the how-is-integrated-Sam-different? angle.
But let's talk about Cas. Let's talk about how hot carefully submissive Dean is. Let's talk about switching power differentials, and what it means that Dean spent the season being dismissive or critical of Cas' abilities. Let's talk about the way Cas and Sam's stories mirror one another. Let's talk about sex-slave porn, and tragic choices between power and love, and the things magic can't give you. Let's talk about love triangles where Cas wants Dean but Sam had him first, and what Cas is or isn't willing to do to take him now. Let's talk about that God-finding amulet. Let's talk about how Cas is pissed, but still happy that Sam made it, still unwilling to hurt them. Let's talk about what it means to be God's favourite pets, and what that means you can get away with if you play it right. Hell, let's talk about dark Cas/Crowley! AND LET'S TALK ABOUT THAT LOOK CAS GIVES DEAN WHEN HE GETS TO HIS FEET, OKAY? I'M OBSESSED. Oh happy day, I have about eighty different ideas for my DCBB.
And so, overall, I'm pretty pleased with these episodes. The season as a whole has some flaws that they didn't redeem. I'm going to hold back commenting on all that stuff until I've had a chance to do a full-season rewatch, though.
Pretty much all positive below.
Let's get the big one out of the way first: Obviously that was not the option I would have chosen for Cas. I was firmly on team human!Cas. The direction they've taken him isn't my Cas. However, he's not actually that far off. This Cas is my reading of Cas with one or two different choices, but with a lot of the same concerns, obsessions, weaknesses. It's actually really interesting thinking of going back to editing my Big Bang now. Obviously that Cas is going to diverge significantly from canon, but I've still written in a lot of really eerie details about Cas' relationship to power and to Dean letting him have power, for example.
I was pissed after my first watch, I'll admit, because I'd become really attached to the idea that Cas was going to make the right decision. On rewatch, I'm actually pretty excited by this turn of events. That choice for Cas is still on the horizon, and I think we'll see him making it in S7. I thought he would make the call sooner rather than later, but the writers think he has a bit farther to fall before he hits rock bottom. I'm OK with that; it approaches the limits of even my angst tolerance, but it doesn't cross.
What I find really fascinating is just how much of Cas' metaphorical fall from grace was caused by Cas' emotional response to Sam and (mostly) Dean. Before 6x20 I was sure that Cas' fate was going to hinge on him choosing between love and duty. I thought love was going to be the thing that saved him. As it turns out, love actually drove him to it. Losing his friends one by one, being isolated and feeling betrayed but still loving, tragically, people who couldn't love him back ("I wish this changed anything") is what drove him to hold on to all the power he could find, to embrace his isolation as something that sets him above, not just apart ("I have no family").
And of course this all makes perfect sense. Until very recently (especially when we consider how old Cas is) Cas had never felt any real emotion. His feelings about Dean in particular were presented as startling and uncomfortable for him, and he's spent the season muddling along trying to find out what friendship means, and then what family means, with no experience and no guidance. He loved passionately and intensely and with a single-minded focus. Humans, though they spend their whole lives surrounded by love, still manage to get it wrong a lot of the time (hell, look at Sam and Dean). Cas, loving for the first time ever, pretty much self-destructed with it.
It does read as a love story to me. And there will always be that tiny, insane part of me that hopes they go there with Dean and Cas. It's hard not to code the last three episodes of the season romantically - all the visual, emotional, and verbal cues that usually signal tragic romance are right there. It would make perfect sense to me, as a narrative and as a character arc. Now, realistically I know it's not going to happen, and it's just going to be SPN doing its usual, wonderful job of mixing soap opera melodrama into a show about monsters and classic rock. But I still ache, just a little, for what could've been if not for the rules of network television. Because these two aren't brothers.
So, in conclusion, Cas was the most well-executed storyline of the entire season, hands down.
Things I really liked:
I really enjoyed Sam's dream world, and the idea of him needing to integrate himself. I got all gleeful at Sam and robo!Sam meeting. I have no idea what kind of consequences this integration will have on Sam in future, if any, but I think that's a really interesting line for fic to investigate over the summer. The reveal of what Robin represents was startling to me, and emotionally effective.
I'm sort of pumped that we got our first unequivolcally good monster in Ellie. I'm also sad we lost her so quickly, but it was nice to get a bit of a romance story for Bobby.
The Lisa and Ben memory wipe was the best call the show could have made at this point. It's a believable end-point to their story, and it's appropriately angsty as fuck.
(Also, can we talk about how fucking spectacular demon!Lisa calling Dean a "C minus lay" and "Tiny Tim" was? I laughed my fucking ass off. Because you know what? Dean could be bad in bed. Girls go home with him because he's hot (male model type lol) and good at picking them up, but he's usually only with them the one night. There's no chance for them to reject him if he doesn't live up to expectations. I want millions of fics about this.)
Balthazar and Crowley snark was particularly well-written in these two. Gamble and Kripke have smarmy banter down to an art form. Crowley's phone call to Dean, from "Jolly Green" to "the peanut butter in my chocolate" to signing off with "kisses!" was pure gold. Crowley's terms of endearment with Cas, and "Have you forgotten who's the bottom in this relationsip?" (Fandom shoutout?) were similarly brilliant. And "Exit stage Crowley" made me snort. Balthazar's "You bastards!" was great, and it was a nice bit of fanservice to call Sam sleeping beauty and suggest that Dean might've stolen some kisses. Basically, SPN does morally and sexually ambiguous baddies really, really well.
I love it when they get a chance to take advantage of shooting in BC and actually use forests. Sam vs. robo!Sam was very nicely shot, and Cas and Balthazar in the forest actually took my breath away a bit it was so beautiful and otherworldly.
There were some really, truly excellent performances in these episodes. Mark was his usual awesome, and Seb Roche made an unlikely character turn believable for me. Jared facing himself was wonderful, especially in the contrast between our Sam and Robo!Sam. I was even impressed by Cindy Sampson's evil turn.
But really, let's talk about Jensen Ackles and Misha Collins for a second here, because...wow. Jensen had a lot of weight to carry, and several different personal tragedies to deal with. I know I'm biased guys, but I really think he's just a really, really, talented actor. The hospital scene so wonderfully understated - I'm glad they chose not to give us actual tears. AND THEN THERE'S EVERY SCENE MISHA AND JENSEN DID TOGETHER, AND HOLY FUCK THEY DESERVE THE FIRST CAPSLOCK OF THIS POST. The tension and the pain and the frustration in them both was so thick. When I'm frustrated I get these cramps in my legs, and I started to have them on behalf of both Dean and Cas. And Misha, with all the layers he had to portray, a simultanenous sort of desperate softness and bitter, hardened resolve. I'm fascinated by the little things choices in his performance. Like the sidelong look powered-up!Cas gives Dean as Dean gets to his feet in the final scene. What does it mean?! As much as he tends to downplay his own work, I think Misha knows this character inside-out and backwards. The creepy soft-spokenness of the final scene gives me chills.
SamnDean. My Big Bang opens with Dean sitting over Sam's bed in the panic room. I LOVE DEAN SITTING OVER SAM'S BED IN THE PANIC ROOM. I loved the way Dean touched Sam's chest when Sam started seizing, I love the way Dean talks to Sam like he knows some part of him can hear. At a con awhile back Jared was asked something about what his favourite Sam line is, and he said it was in the finale and that it sums up what his character is all about. I can't imagine it's anything other than "I'm not leaving my brother alone out there." AND I HAVE NOTHING ELSE TO SAY. IT'S PERFECT.
Did any one else get inappropriately turned on by coma!Sam's air humping and the way it made his shirt ride up? Anyone?
And speaking of pervy... "You will bow down and profess your love unto me, your lord." Mmmm, yes please. Which brings me to...
On summer fic potential: First thing's first, we were spoiled last year. Swan Song's ending was like fanfic nirvana, for everyone. There was really no way to duplicate that kind of magic. This ending is clearly a better setup for Cas-focused fic, but that's not to say there's no space for Sam/Dean, especially if we explore the how-is-integrated-Sam-different? angle.
But let's talk about Cas. Let's talk about how hot carefully submissive Dean is. Let's talk about switching power differentials, and what it means that Dean spent the season being dismissive or critical of Cas' abilities. Let's talk about the way Cas and Sam's stories mirror one another. Let's talk about sex-slave porn, and tragic choices between power and love, and the things magic can't give you. Let's talk about love triangles where Cas wants Dean but Sam had him first, and what Cas is or isn't willing to do to take him now. Let's talk about that God-finding amulet. Let's talk about how Cas is pissed, but still happy that Sam made it, still unwilling to hurt them. Let's talk about what it means to be God's favourite pets, and what that means you can get away with if you play it right. Hell, let's talk about dark Cas/Crowley! AND LET'S TALK ABOUT THAT LOOK CAS GIVES DEAN WHEN HE GETS TO HIS FEET, OKAY? I'M OBSESSED. Oh happy day, I have about eighty different ideas for my DCBB.
And so, overall, I'm pretty pleased with these episodes. The season as a whole has some flaws that they didn't redeem. I'm going to hold back commenting on all that stuff until I've had a chance to do a full-season rewatch, though.