we're all scared: fear and Supernatural
“What if I should discover that that very enemy himself is within me, that I myself am the enemy who must be loved - what then?”
Carl Jung
Supernatural is a horror genre show. It's all about fear. Big bold letters on the billboard, people. But we don't expect our heroes to be scared. Oh maybe in passing perhaps,but just as a moment to overcome that ( Read more... )
Carl Jung
Supernatural is a horror genre show. It's all about fear. Big bold letters on the billboard, people. But we don't expect our heroes to be scared. Oh maybe in passing perhaps,but just as a moment to overcome that ( Read more... )
After 4.15 I had similar but slightly different reactions. To me, Dean is worn out by his fear -- the episode with the siren brought up so many of the things that Dean fears the most -- the fear that Sam really does look down upon him, the fear that he will in the end kill Sam, the fear that Sam really wants to possibly kill him but definitely leave him behind -- and the fear that he will never be able to just trust Sam again. After all that has been brought to the surface how can he possibly go back? He just looks so sad, tired and resigned in 4.15, it really makes me feel for him. After the ghost sickness, he could rationalize that it was just the sickness making him afraid, so I don't think he really faced it. But after he and Sam were forced to bare their most hurtful thoughts about each other -- there's nothing more to fear, because it's actually transpiring. Like the old adage, better the devil you know than the devil you don't know -- before, Dean had to fear that Sam was going behind his back, that he was using his powers to get on a par with a demon like Alistair -- but now he knows for sure.
As for Sam, since dealing with the magicians, he has tried to convince himself that he can't afford to be afraid of what's inside him and that he can't afford to fear the consequences. The stakes are just too high -- not just Dean's safety and a peaceful future at least for Dean, but hopefully for the two of them to grow old together -- but for the whole world, because Sam can't stand to not use such a powerful weapon when seal after seal is being broken. It's really kind of hard to tell what the outcome of 4.15 would have been if Sam had refrained from any use of his powers -- since they were not relying on those powers when they saved Tessa, and use of the powers failed to save Pamela. I think on Sam's face in 4.15 we mostly see this muleheaded determination -- I am constantly reminded that Sam Winchester is a Taurus!!! -- mixed with distaste or discomfort that he is grimly shoving down --- but I think that final scene after Pamela confronted him that she "could feel what's inside him" --- I think that was pure panic. I think Sam keeps swinging kind of wildly between this grim lock on his emotions, and extreme emotional excess. We saw how drunk and out of control he was till Ruby helped him take action after Dean's death --- and every so often he just flips -- like when he threw the phone in the Siren episode -- his emotional reaction was way out of proportion -- whereas a lot of s4, his emotional reactions have been more damped down than you might expect, like his very matter of fact reactions in Yellow Fever. So yes, I think Sam is definitely burying his fear -- but I think every so often it just up and practically swallows him. His whole crazy mission is fear based -- and we can only hope that Pamela's dying truthtelling will have the desired effect of shocking some sense into Sam before it's too late!
Great meta -- inspiring way to look at s4 from a new angel!
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