SPN season 2 overview: Sam and Dean
I think at some point I might've entertained ambitions of writing up a full season overview: the mytharc, the philosophical issues, the worldbuilding and the minor characters, etc. But I think if I tried to do all that, the end result would be longer than my proposed dissertation. So I figured I'd at least write up the most important parts -- everything having to do with the boys.
Way, way back in the midst of prehistory, when I was a wee baby writer, I took a bunch of creative writing classes and also read a bunch of creative books. They all kind of blended in my head after a while, so I can't always remember which piece of advice came from where, but I do remember one particular characterization exercise that I thought was pretty neat. It involved figuring out three central things about your characters: what do they value most, what do they believe most strongly, and what do they fear most? There's a lot of simplification involved in these questions, obviously, since the answers are almost certain to change over a character's lifetime, there may not even be one clear-cut answer, and there are plenty of other things we could ask. But over the years I've definitely found that knowing these three things does tell you a whole lot about a character, both as a reader and as a writer.
So let's take a look at Sam and Dean now. If I had to answer the above three questions about the boys way back in the first half of Season 1, here's what I would've said:
Sam values normalcy, stability and safety. He fears ignorance and loss of control. He believes that any situation, no matter how fucked-up, can be made right by applying sufficient intelligence, determination and good intent.
Dean values family, loyalty and duty. He fears being alone. He believes that supernatural evil must be fought by those who know about it so that innocent people can be protected.
Over the course of the second season (or, more accurately, from the second half of the first season onward) both boys have been faced with the loss of what they most value; they've had their worst fears come true; and they've had their beliefs shaken or broken. Much of the second-season storyline focused on seeing how they dealt with the psychological fallout.
Even with everything that had happened to him in season 1, Sam still, as late as "Shadow," clung to the idea that he would one day be able to put the supernatural world behind and go back to school and a normal life. He drew strength from that, the idea that there was life beyond vengeance, that even after getting drawn back into the hunt he still had a hope of not ending up like John. I think it was in "Devil's Trap," with the YED's revelation about having plans for Sam and all the PsyKids, that Sam first began to fear that a safe, normal life was no longer an option for him. And season 2 just reinforced that with the events of "Simon Says," "Croatoan," "Hunted," and everything that followed. Sam has always been terrified by his visions -- he can't control them, their nature is unknown to him, they maybe be being caused by a malevolent outside source with a secred agenda and the desire to rob Sam of his autonomy and turn him into something he'd rather die than become. All of Sam's deepest private terrors, rolled together into one neat package and shoved forcibly into his head, with a nice migraine as an added bonus. The visions threaten Sam's sense of self and all his hopes for the future.
At the same time, there's the additional and potentially even more dangerous of Henricksen and the boys' legal situation. Even if all the demon troubles are solved, Sam can never have a safe normal life as long as he and Dean are wanted fugitives. And while Sam can kill or exorcise (or even possibly control) demons, there's nothing he can do about the FBI. Even if he convinces Henricksen, it won't do much good, since Henricksen has no power to have the hunt called off; the best he can do is help the boys to not get caught. Sam and Dean's innocence cannot be proven in a court of law, at least not with the truth. In many ways, the legal mess is even more frightening and uncontrollable for Sam than the whole business with YED and the visions is.
I think, however, that Sam could've coped with all of these things much better if he didn't also spend the entire season fighting not to lose his big brother. Dean is Sam's safety and normalcy. Dean watches out for him, and Sam has always relied on that, even when he didn't consciously realize it. Even at Stanford, I think the simple knowledge that Dean was out there somewhere being himself and doing his thing helped Sam have the strength to go on with his attempt to have his apple-pie life. As long as Dean was there, obnoxious and solid and dependable, Sam could handle anything. But after John's death, Dean spent most of the year falling apart, and none of Sam's attempts to help him did any good. Dean didn't start pulling himself together again until ater "Hunted," and even then his improvement came in tiny, incremental steps. And there was nothing Sam could do except helplessly watch. Even being the world's bestest little brother ever wasn't enough.
Throughout the season, Sam consistently behaved like a man who felt that his life had spun out of his control. He kept making these desperate, flailing attempts to fix things somehow. If I hunt, I won't feel so bad about Dad anymore. If I make Dean talk to me, he'll get better. If I don't use my powers, the YED can't use me. If I save enough people, I'll escape my destiny. If I do what the angel says, I'll redeem myself. If I try hard enough, I can save Madison. Over and over again he tried, and over and over again, his attempts came to nothing.
Dean, in the meantime, spent the season facing up to the worst thing that could possibly happen to him: the destruction of his family. John was not only dead but in Hell, having bargained with the enemy and betrayed the cause he'd raised Dean to believe in. Sam was in danger of becoming either dead or no longer Sam. With the command of "save Sammy or kill him" hanging over head, Dean was faced with the prospect of not only being left alone without his family, but also of knowing that it would be all his fault. And having to keep it secret created an additional burden. Dean doesn't think twice about casual lies told to strangers, but he hates lying to or keeping secrets from the people he's close to. It's a breach of his personal code of trust and loyalty.
At the same time, Dean was losing his dedication and commitment to the hunt. The repeated encounters with supernatural creatures that were either not evil or able to control their evil impulses, the possibility that Sam himself might be partly supernatural, the knowledge that John had betrayed the fight for a personal stake -- all this has undermined Dean's belief in hunting as a just cause and his true calling, as something he could take pride and satisfaction and self-worth from. The hunt had taken Dean's father from him, threatened to take Sam, and no longer seemed to be giving anything back. It wasn't until after "Hunted," in episodes like "Playthings" and "Hollywood Babylon," that Dean started to take some enjoyment from their jobs again, and it wasn't until "WIAWSNB" that he reaffirmed his commitment -- and then it seemed more like an act of resigned acceptance than firm conviction.
Still, acceptance was better than Dean's previous depression, and could be viewed as part of those little incremental steps that Dean had been making in the second half of the season -- but then Sam went and died, and all of Dean's progress went right out the window. If Sam's psychological low point of the season was the drunken binge in "Playthings," Dean's was the deal at the crossroads in "AHBL2." Following the time-honored tradition of big brother outdoing little brothers, Dean's fall was much more severe, with more dire consequences than Sam's. Then again, Dean didn't have his brother there to catch him.
So all in all, season 2 was pretty much the Shittiest Year Ever for the boys, taking them as low as they could possibly go without actually joining their dad in Hell. And yet, they never stopped helping people, never gave up, and until "AHBL2," whenever one of the boys hit a low point, the other one stepped up to the plate. And we ended the season with the YED defeated, John out of Hell, and both boys alive and together and with a job to do. Even with the escaped demon army roaming the land and Dean's deal ticking down to its deadline, it looks as if there's hope.
So what do I hope to see next year? Well, for Dean, I want to see him get his hunting mojo back, to recover his belief in "saving people, hunting things." I want to see him once again hunting because he believes it really needs to be done, not just because he doesn't know what else to do.
For Sam, I'd like to see him stop being afraid of his own powers, to start accepting them and learning how to use them without going all dark-side in the process. I'm not sure how such a storyline could be pulled of, since I don't really want superhero!Sam and I don't think Kripke does either, but I'm sure there's a way.
So is it September yet? Huh? How about now?
Way, way back in the midst of prehistory, when I was a wee baby writer, I took a bunch of creative writing classes and also read a bunch of creative books. They all kind of blended in my head after a while, so I can't always remember which piece of advice came from where, but I do remember one particular characterization exercise that I thought was pretty neat. It involved figuring out three central things about your characters: what do they value most, what do they believe most strongly, and what do they fear most? There's a lot of simplification involved in these questions, obviously, since the answers are almost certain to change over a character's lifetime, there may not even be one clear-cut answer, and there are plenty of other things we could ask. But over the years I've definitely found that knowing these three things does tell you a whole lot about a character, both as a reader and as a writer.
So let's take a look at Sam and Dean now. If I had to answer the above three questions about the boys way back in the first half of Season 1, here's what I would've said:
Sam values normalcy, stability and safety. He fears ignorance and loss of control. He believes that any situation, no matter how fucked-up, can be made right by applying sufficient intelligence, determination and good intent.
Dean values family, loyalty and duty. He fears being alone. He believes that supernatural evil must be fought by those who know about it so that innocent people can be protected.
Over the course of the second season (or, more accurately, from the second half of the first season onward) both boys have been faced with the loss of what they most value; they've had their worst fears come true; and they've had their beliefs shaken or broken. Much of the second-season storyline focused on seeing how they dealt with the psychological fallout.
Even with everything that had happened to him in season 1, Sam still, as late as "Shadow," clung to the idea that he would one day be able to put the supernatural world behind and go back to school and a normal life. He drew strength from that, the idea that there was life beyond vengeance, that even after getting drawn back into the hunt he still had a hope of not ending up like John. I think it was in "Devil's Trap," with the YED's revelation about having plans for Sam and all the PsyKids, that Sam first began to fear that a safe, normal life was no longer an option for him. And season 2 just reinforced that with the events of "Simon Says," "Croatoan," "Hunted," and everything that followed. Sam has always been terrified by his visions -- he can't control them, their nature is unknown to him, they maybe be being caused by a malevolent outside source with a secred agenda and the desire to rob Sam of his autonomy and turn him into something he'd rather die than become. All of Sam's deepest private terrors, rolled together into one neat package and shoved forcibly into his head, with a nice migraine as an added bonus. The visions threaten Sam's sense of self and all his hopes for the future.
At the same time, there's the additional and potentially even more dangerous of Henricksen and the boys' legal situation. Even if all the demon troubles are solved, Sam can never have a safe normal life as long as he and Dean are wanted fugitives. And while Sam can kill or exorcise (or even possibly control) demons, there's nothing he can do about the FBI. Even if he convinces Henricksen, it won't do much good, since Henricksen has no power to have the hunt called off; the best he can do is help the boys to not get caught. Sam and Dean's innocence cannot be proven in a court of law, at least not with the truth. In many ways, the legal mess is even more frightening and uncontrollable for Sam than the whole business with YED and the visions is.
I think, however, that Sam could've coped with all of these things much better if he didn't also spend the entire season fighting not to lose his big brother. Dean is Sam's safety and normalcy. Dean watches out for him, and Sam has always relied on that, even when he didn't consciously realize it. Even at Stanford, I think the simple knowledge that Dean was out there somewhere being himself and doing his thing helped Sam have the strength to go on with his attempt to have his apple-pie life. As long as Dean was there, obnoxious and solid and dependable, Sam could handle anything. But after John's death, Dean spent most of the year falling apart, and none of Sam's attempts to help him did any good. Dean didn't start pulling himself together again until ater "Hunted," and even then his improvement came in tiny, incremental steps. And there was nothing Sam could do except helplessly watch. Even being the world's bestest little brother ever wasn't enough.
Throughout the season, Sam consistently behaved like a man who felt that his life had spun out of his control. He kept making these desperate, flailing attempts to fix things somehow. If I hunt, I won't feel so bad about Dad anymore. If I make Dean talk to me, he'll get better. If I don't use my powers, the YED can't use me. If I save enough people, I'll escape my destiny. If I do what the angel says, I'll redeem myself. If I try hard enough, I can save Madison. Over and over again he tried, and over and over again, his attempts came to nothing.
Dean, in the meantime, spent the season facing up to the worst thing that could possibly happen to him: the destruction of his family. John was not only dead but in Hell, having bargained with the enemy and betrayed the cause he'd raised Dean to believe in. Sam was in danger of becoming either dead or no longer Sam. With the command of "save Sammy or kill him" hanging over head, Dean was faced with the prospect of not only being left alone without his family, but also of knowing that it would be all his fault. And having to keep it secret created an additional burden. Dean doesn't think twice about casual lies told to strangers, but he hates lying to or keeping secrets from the people he's close to. It's a breach of his personal code of trust and loyalty.
At the same time, Dean was losing his dedication and commitment to the hunt. The repeated encounters with supernatural creatures that were either not evil or able to control their evil impulses, the possibility that Sam himself might be partly supernatural, the knowledge that John had betrayed the fight for a personal stake -- all this has undermined Dean's belief in hunting as a just cause and his true calling, as something he could take pride and satisfaction and self-worth from. The hunt had taken Dean's father from him, threatened to take Sam, and no longer seemed to be giving anything back. It wasn't until after "Hunted," in episodes like "Playthings" and "Hollywood Babylon," that Dean started to take some enjoyment from their jobs again, and it wasn't until "WIAWSNB" that he reaffirmed his commitment -- and then it seemed more like an act of resigned acceptance than firm conviction.
Still, acceptance was better than Dean's previous depression, and could be viewed as part of those little incremental steps that Dean had been making in the second half of the season -- but then Sam went and died, and all of Dean's progress went right out the window. If Sam's psychological low point of the season was the drunken binge in "Playthings," Dean's was the deal at the crossroads in "AHBL2." Following the time-honored tradition of big brother outdoing little brothers, Dean's fall was much more severe, with more dire consequences than Sam's. Then again, Dean didn't have his brother there to catch him.
So all in all, season 2 was pretty much the Shittiest Year Ever for the boys, taking them as low as they could possibly go without actually joining their dad in Hell. And yet, they never stopped helping people, never gave up, and until "AHBL2," whenever one of the boys hit a low point, the other one stepped up to the plate. And we ended the season with the YED defeated, John out of Hell, and both boys alive and together and with a job to do. Even with the escaped demon army roaming the land and Dean's deal ticking down to its deadline, it looks as if there's hope.
So what do I hope to see next year? Well, for Dean, I want to see him get his hunting mojo back, to recover his belief in "saving people, hunting things." I want to see him once again hunting because he believes it really needs to be done, not just because he doesn't know what else to do.
For Sam, I'd like to see him stop being afraid of his own powers, to start accepting them and learning how to use them without going all dark-side in the process. I'm not sure how such a storyline could be pulled of, since I don't really want superhero!Sam and I don't think Kripke does either, but I'm sure there's a way.
So is it September yet? Huh? How about now?