Things I Love About SPN Season 1: Asylum #2
Supernatural, Season 1
Episode 10, “Asylum”
Written by Richard Hatem
Directed by Guy Bee
Continued from #1
Warning: reference to homophobia
Sam’s conversation with Gunderson has established that the rookie cop’s homicidal/suicidal outburst was unprecedented, so the brothers decide to visit the asylum. They have to bust in, of course, so we get an opportunity to admire the brothers’ athleticism:
And we also get another focus on those keep out notices. That might be significant.
A glance at John’s journal establishes the south wing as the likely centre of the disturbances as Dean cites the case of a teen in the 70s who “went nuts and started lighting up the place”.
As soon as they enter the south wing, they start a conversation that initially seems like just another example of their typical sibling wrangling, but now it takes on a more disturbing quality as the subject of Sam’s psychic abilities enters the mix:
SAM and DEAN walk down a hallway.
DEAN
Let me know if you see any dead people, Haley Joel.
SAM
Dude, enough.
DEAN
I'm serious. You gotta be careful, all right? Ghosts are attracted to that whole ESP thing you got going on.
SAM
I told you, it's not ESP! I just have strange vibes sometimes. Weird dreams.
DEAN
Yeah, whatever. Don't ask, don't tell.
SAM
You get any reading on that thing or not?
DEAN
Nope. Of course, it doesn't mean no one's home.
SAM
Spirits can't appear during certain hours of the day.
DEAN
Yeah, the freaks come out at night.
SAM
Yeah.
DEAN
(deadpan) Hey Sam, who do you think is the hotter psychic: Patricia Arquette, Jennifer Love Hewitt, or you?
SAM pushes DEAN, who laughs. (Ibid)
It’s significant that a whole scene is devoted to a conversation that neither moves the plot forward, nor supplies essential exposition to the audience; this conversation is all about the brothers’ relationship, and it’s important. I’ve spoken before about the show’s equivocal use of humour; running gags that initially seem lighthearted often acquire a much darker undertone as the seasons progress. Under the banter of this scene there is evidence of growing tensions in the brothers’ relationship, particularly with reference to Sam’s powers, that may contribute to the confrontation at the climax of this episode and also the breakup that comes in the next episode, “Scarecrow”. Furthermore, it highlights the issues at the seat of the brother conflict that dominates the whole story arc of the first five seasons, so it’s worth unpacking this conversation in detail.
First, it’s notable that Sam reacts immediately to Dean’s opening jibe. Up until now we’ve seen that he typically ignores Dean’s salvos. He hasn’t risen to the repeated attempts to bait him with homoerotic and feminizing comments because those are Dean’s issues, not Sam’s; Sam is clearly quite comfortable in his own masculinity. So, it’s significant that his hackles rise straight away when Dean’s taunts shift to the subject of his psychic tendencies; this is an issue he’s sensitive about. We’re quickly supplied with a possible reason for his anxiety when Dean points out that “ghosts are attracted to that whole ESP thing”. It’s typical of the show’s style that the first time it hints at the major plot point that Sam’s powers may be a magnet for evil forces, it does so in an ostensibly throwaway comment made in a conversation that passes for casual banter.
Sam’s response is transparent in its denial: “It’s not ESP” he says, yet what are strange vibes and weird dreams if not ESP? His pitifully awkward attempt to stay in the psychic closet may be what prompts Dean’s response, “don’t ask, don’t tell” alluding to the infamous DADT policy of the US military, still in force at the time of writing (1993-2011). Under this policy a serviceman could not be forced to reveal their sexual orientation but could be discharged if they did. Dean is likening his discomfort with Sam’s powers to the military’s historical discrimination against gay servicemen, a parallel that is all the more pointed when we recall that John is a former marine, and that Sam later taunts Dean for following their father’s orders like a “good little soldier”. Herein may be a clue to the type of fears Sam is harbouring now that his psychic abilities have been outed: he is anticipating a similar kind of discrimination and rejection from his hunter family. The thematic parallel between Sam’s powers and homophobic persecution persists in the coming seasons with ever more disturbing implications as we consider Sam’s treatment at the hands of his family and the wider hunting community.
Dean’s use of the word “freak” also acquires additional nuances in this scene. So far that word has been used interchangeably to mean the brothers in relation to normal society, or to refer to supernatural entities, but now Sam is beginning to fall into the latter category and is on his way to becoming “the whole new level of freak” he perceives himself to be in season 4.
Finally, Dean concludes by comparing him to the pop-culture psychics from Medium and Ghost Whisperer and although, as we’ve noted, Sam has historically taken this kind of feminizing jibe in stride, now that it’s been linked to the sensitive issue of his psychic tendencies, he’s no longer immune to the bait and he can’t help reacting; as he punches his brother’s arm, Dean laughs, but in the next scene it’s evident that Sam is nursing some real anger, not necessarily about this conversation but, doubtless, aggravated by it.
The next room they move into looks like Frankenstein’s laboratory on the cleaner’s day off. The room is littered with evidence of past horrors. In contrast to his insensitivity in the previous scene, Dean now exposes the more empathic side of his nature as he reacts to the inhumane treatment inflicted on the former patients: “man. Electro-shock. Lobotomies. They did some twisted stuff to these people” he observes, but he quickly uses humour to make light of it, treating Sam to his best Jack Nicholson impression.
Sam isn’t inclined to be entertained however and ignores him, so Dean’s grin withers away, and Jensen’s ‘kicked puppy’ routine somehow elicits sympathy for Dean even though he arguably deserves the silent treatment Sam’s giving him.
Back to business, the brothers theorize about the kind of case they’re dealing with, and we get a double dose of folk-lore with a side of pop-culture as the brothers reference more movies that were based on alleged real-life hauntings:
DEAN
So. Whaddaya think? Ghosts possessing people?
SAM
Maybe. Or maybe it's more like Amityville, or the Smurl haunting.
DEAN
Spirits driving them insane. Kinda like my man Jack in The Shining. (grins)
(Ibid)
Dean can’t resist another attempt to engage Sam with a Nicholson reference and almost manages to get a grudging huff of humour from him, but then Sam confronts him on the subject of their absent father:
SAM
Dean. (DEAN looks at him) When are we going to talk about it?
DEAN
Talk about what?
SAM
About the fact Dad's not here.
DEAN
Oh. I see. How ’bout...never.
SAM
I'm being serious, man.
DEAN
So am I, Sam. Look, he sent us here, he obviously wants us here. We'll pick up the search later.
SAM
It doesn't matter what he wants.
DEAN
See. That attitude? Right there? That is why I always get the extra cookie.
SAM
Dad could be in trouble, we should be looking for him. We deserve some answers, Dean. I mean, this is our family we're talking about.
DEAN
I understand that, Sam, but he's given us an order.
SAM
So what, we gotta always follow Dad's orders?
DEAN
Of course we do.
SAM gives DEAN a frustrated face. DEAN stares at him then turns away, ending the conversation.
DEAN
(poking around and picking up a sign) 'Sanford Ellicott'...You know what we gotta do. We gotta find out more about the south wing. See if something happened here.
DEAN walks away, leaving the sign with SAM, who stares down at it with a bitchface.
(Ibid)
The conversation highlights the fact that, although the brothers appear to be on the same path through the first part of the season, they have different goals: the one brother is on a quest to find the Father, while the other seeks to do his Father’s will. Thematically, this continues the religious allegory hinted at in the campfire scene from “Wendigo”, and it also sets us up for the upcoming division in “Scarecrow” where the paths split, and Sam is forced to choose between the two.
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