Supernatural: Something About Benny
I've been seeing a lot of posts about the buttload of parallels between Benny and Sam.
This is not just coincidence, and it's not just parallels.
I've seen a lot of posts that talk about Benny as "Dean's new boyfriend." But I don't think that's where this is going. I think Show is positioning Benny as another Winchester brother.
No, not literally, the age is totally wrong. And not to Sam and Dean. It's the audience Show is pitching this to. To us.
The title of the episode is "Blood Brother."
We all know what "blood brothers" means--people who aren't actually related by blood forge kinship with each other by literally mingling their blood. But the title of the episode is "Blood Brother," singular. Is it Dean, or is it Benny?
Benny calls Dean "brother." AND DEAN LETS HIM. "Brother" is not a word Dean takes lightly, it's not a word he's going to let just anybody use in seriousness. I can only think of one person, in fact, who gets to call Dean that.
Traditionally, people become blood brothers by each of the parties cutting themselves enough to bleed and pressing the open wounds together so the blood from each is mixed with the other's. However, I don't imagine that's a good idea if one of the parties is a vampire and the other one has to remain human in order to escape from Purgatory. ETA: Wow, I REALLY did not expect Show to ACTUALLY GO THERE. /ETA So I'm guessing what happened is that Dean offered Benny his blood at some dire point, and Benny drank it. In Benny's eyes, that might be enough of a reason to call Dean "brother." But what about Dean? Does he count Benny as a blood brother?
We know that Dean and Benny did something in Purgatory that Dean doesn't regret "for a minute." He's very clear that it's something they both participated in, and the fact that he has to say he doesn't regret it means it's something he thinks he should regret, that somebody else *cough*sam*cough* might not approve of, and it has to do with the title of the episode.
It's clear from the episode that the reason Dean actually brought Benny back instead of bleeding him out in a ditch somewhere is that Benny saved Cas' life. But Dean cares what happens to Benny, or he wouldn't have gone to him when Benny called asking for help. He didn't seem happy about parting ways, if not permanently, then for a long time, and he hugged back when Benny hugged him.
Except--Dean Winchester really doesn't hug people he's not attached to. Heck, he doesn't even touch people in a non-sexual way unless he cares about them a lot, except to shake hands or pull them out of danger, and he even avoids shaking hands when he can. So Benny is important to Dean, and not just because he saved Cas. Benny is someone Dean feels he needs to protect--just look at the way he warns Sam off when Sam is getting ready to pull a weapon on Benny. That's his "don't fuck with my family" face, and the fact that he has to pull it on Sam is huge. Sam knew it, too, and was really not happy about it.
I don't think Dean consciously thinks of Benny as a blood brother, but it sure seems to be the way he's treating him. And Sam certainly doesn't, and probably won't. But the audience is definitely meant to be starting to think of Benny that way, because for seven years, Show has used the song "Wayward Son" in connection with the Winchesters. I don't know any SPN fan who hears it and doesn't immediately think of Sam and Dean, no matter where we are or what we're doing. So when the writers have Benny's maker call him his "wayward son," they're counting on the accumulated weight of seven years of tradition to snap that connection into place for us.
If you're wondering why you all of a sudden like Benny a lot more after this episode?
That's why.
This is not just coincidence, and it's not just parallels.
I've seen a lot of posts that talk about Benny as "Dean's new boyfriend." But I don't think that's where this is going. I think Show is positioning Benny as another Winchester brother.
No, not literally, the age is totally wrong. And not to Sam and Dean. It's the audience Show is pitching this to. To us.
The title of the episode is "Blood Brother."
We all know what "blood brothers" means--people who aren't actually related by blood forge kinship with each other by literally mingling their blood. But the title of the episode is "Blood Brother," singular. Is it Dean, or is it Benny?
Benny calls Dean "brother." AND DEAN LETS HIM. "Brother" is not a word Dean takes lightly, it's not a word he's going to let just anybody use in seriousness. I can only think of one person, in fact, who gets to call Dean that.
Traditionally, people become blood brothers by each of the parties cutting themselves enough to bleed and pressing the open wounds together so the blood from each is mixed with the other's. However, I don't imagine that's a good idea if one of the parties is a vampire and the other one has to remain human in order to escape from Purgatory. ETA: Wow, I REALLY did not expect Show to ACTUALLY GO THERE. /ETA So I'm guessing what happened is that Dean offered Benny his blood at some dire point, and Benny drank it. In Benny's eyes, that might be enough of a reason to call Dean "brother." But what about Dean? Does he count Benny as a blood brother?
We know that Dean and Benny did something in Purgatory that Dean doesn't regret "for a minute." He's very clear that it's something they both participated in, and the fact that he has to say he doesn't regret it means it's something he thinks he should regret, that somebody else *cough*sam*cough* might not approve of, and it has to do with the title of the episode.
It's clear from the episode that the reason Dean actually brought Benny back instead of bleeding him out in a ditch somewhere is that Benny saved Cas' life. But Dean cares what happens to Benny, or he wouldn't have gone to him when Benny called asking for help. He didn't seem happy about parting ways, if not permanently, then for a long time, and he hugged back when Benny hugged him.
Except--Dean Winchester really doesn't hug people he's not attached to. Heck, he doesn't even touch people in a non-sexual way unless he cares about them a lot, except to shake hands or pull them out of danger, and he even avoids shaking hands when he can. So Benny is important to Dean, and not just because he saved Cas. Benny is someone Dean feels he needs to protect--just look at the way he warns Sam off when Sam is getting ready to pull a weapon on Benny. That's his "don't fuck with my family" face, and the fact that he has to pull it on Sam is huge. Sam knew it, too, and was really not happy about it.
I don't think Dean consciously thinks of Benny as a blood brother, but it sure seems to be the way he's treating him. And Sam certainly doesn't, and probably won't. But the audience is definitely meant to be starting to think of Benny that way, because for seven years, Show has used the song "Wayward Son" in connection with the Winchesters. I don't know any SPN fan who hears it and doesn't immediately think of Sam and Dean, no matter where we are or what we're doing. So when the writers have Benny's maker call him his "wayward son," they're counting on the accumulated weight of seven years of tradition to snap that connection into place for us.
If you're wondering why you all of a sudden like Benny a lot more after this episode?
That's why.