I have quite enjoyed these recent Supernatural episodes, although very little happened in 2/3 of them. I’m especially pleased that they were enjoyable because I’m not generally big on MOTW-type episodes, of which we’ve basically had an unbroken string since Dean was cured.
Partly this is because, as with the “Ezekiel” stretch of last season, there really is no such thing as a standalone episode when there’s something working within one of the main characters, pulling at their thinking and actions whether they realize it or not. Dean might not be overtly looking all demony, but he’s self-conscious and Sam has an eye on him and so even though his behavior isn’t noticeably different than it was before his death or even the Mark, it’s received very differently. No more reset button from episode to episode, as much as Dean would prefer for his actions to lack context and continuity; the narrative lets the pattern add up. Personally, I don't really buy that the Mark has stopped affecting him by this most recent episode, even; I think he's become so accustomed to whatever it does that the bloodlust now feels normal to him.
Rowena is so great. She reminded me irresistibly of Fiona Goode and that is always a plus IMO. She’s not wrong about most of her asshole victims, definitely, but it’s clearly far more about her ability to find and exploit the vulnerable. When you’re as screwed as those girls were, someone giving you something nice for a change is going to go a long way. That narcissistic royal “we” Rowena keeps using feels like inclusion.
Which, I mean, I acknowledge that using real psych terms to categorize fictional characters can be a dicey business, but Rowena really is a classic narcissist. And that could potentially explain a lot about Crowley? I’ve mentioned a few times before that Crowley’s “six inches below the belt” story has always smelled off to me. True or false, it’s a very handy story to tell, to make people underestimate him - and, if false, to put them off from whatever really happened. And I wonder now if it wasn’t a cover for Rowena having sold her son for her powers? One of those dysfunction-writ-large metaphors the show does so well.
I’ve become quite spoiled about witch mythologies, but I can roll with what Rowena told us. Her story with the Grand Coven has the potential to become an interesting parallel with Magnus and the MoL? And that, in turn, is of a piece with the problematization of the Myth of Winchester, of the Rugged Individualist who just won’t play by your square rules, man! Sure, it’s possible that people don’t fit into organizations for neutral or noble reasons (see: Sheriff Vampire), but there are also good reasons to stick to a social contract and a lot of bad reasons for breaking one.
There’s a neat contrast between the iconoclasts-with-an-agenda to the two characters we see walk away from destructive lifestyles. I like both Cole and Hannah and would almost certainly enjoy seeing them again, but it would be complete if we have these two parallel strands of people learning to let go, to step back from this vicious cycle of violence and choose a future for themselves and others.
Speaking of Hannah: I don’t actually agree that the angels should be getting in line with some prime directive of Protect Humanity. The angels are sentient entities; they are entitled to exist on their own terms. That does not mean they are entitled to exploit humans the way they do. An obligation to protect is not the same as a right to cause harm. Autonomy all around!
I am so pleased the show took a page out of the Julie Plec Playbook of Knowing A Good Thing When You See it and brought back Sheriff Sunshine. Oh, man, the Donna and Doug stuff was such a sharp look at that kind of relationship. He has her constantly on the hopeful-defensive, thinking if she just cuts herself down enough he’ll validate her. He cuts her down in front of a potential new friend, and doubles down as the friendship starts to look real. He gives her a big clownish smile and tells her he’s entitled to her sustenance, in a way that she’ll be embarrassed if she turns him down. He keeps her on a string and then rubs his other dates in her face. STOP ME IF YOU’VE HEARD THIS ONE BEFORE……? Jody telling him where to shove it was cathartic and beautiful - although Donna’s defensive and slightly embarrassed response to that was also quite realistic.
The Myth of Dean Winchester continues to take a badly-needed drubbing. He huffs and puffs about how he doesn’t have to explain himself to Sam - which only serves to demonstrate that he realizes he should be able to explain himself, and shows Sam that he doesn’t have an explanation. He blusters about what “real men” do rather than puffing up his manliness by calling Sam some variation of “bitch,” which shows the anxiousness of his masculinity. He drags Sam to the middle of nowhere, ostensibly for a booty call but really to see if he can still get Sam to follow his lead, only to get caught having thought a prostitute was totally into him, for real, okay.
Probably the greatest thing along those lines was the long sad violin solo he played for Cole, LOL. “Is today the day I die? IF I COULD DIE WHICH I CAN’T!” What really got to me about this was that he openly admitted to Sam that these Grand Dean Winchester Speeches are several large parts manipulation. I think his denial that he meant it at all was a little bit of face-saving - “no need for me to improve as a person because I will be a victim of something else any day now” is exactly how he thinks - but his acknowledgement that his supposedly-heartfelt theatrics are not only less than the objective truth as divined by his unerring gut, but are actively tailored to get what he needs or wants, is possibly a pretty consequential paradigm shift.
And Sam is meeting him so far beyond halfway - eight hours out of his own way, without asking a single question - that it’s almost hard to watch the enabling. Still, the dynamic has definitely shifted. Sam is seeing through the Myth of Dean Winchester, enough that he’s asking Dean questions out loud rather than deciding he must be wrong and preemptively folding in on himself.
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