SPN Ep Rxn 8.01: The Spiral of Doom

[rokhal]

I used to do pretty much frame-by-frame reviews, with speculation and a detailed plot synopsis and a list of important technical and creature details. This is not one of those reviews.

Comments

[rokhal]

Great point. My impression is that Sam used to think he was the nice one, even when he was blundering around doing exactly what you describe. It was very annoying.

The doubt, regret, and low-self esteem Sam develops in later seasons really makes him more palatable (mostly because it's justified. And the sad eyes). And he does care about Dean; he's just often kind of terrible at it. He's possessive more than he is considerate.

I guess there's all different of shades of interpretation that fit Sam.

[rokhal]

It wouldn't be Sam if he wasn't doing something really . . . really . . . stupid, every season or so. Keeps things interesting.

But I do admire the effort Sam puts into fixing his mistakes. It takes a lot of courage to admit when one's done wrong.

Have fun with your popcorn!

[quickreaver]

Wow. I don't see Sam that way at all. Interesting that two people can be watching the very same show and get two entirely different spins on a character!

[rokhal]

Well, it's not a statistically substantiated theory . . .

[quickreaver]

And it's harsh. I do like a lot of what you've said in your post, don't get me wrong! The last paragraph rings pretty true but Dean isn't the Big Damn Hero you paint him to be. He has difficulties with shades of gray, and when things don't fit into his decision of what's what, he disregards it or pokes fun at it. (Kinda sounds like my husband, actually.)

Until Season Eight, he believed a monster by any other name ... still stunk. Stank. Whatever. (With, perhaps, the exception of Sam. Sam was the monster Dean had to accept, based on his rigid belief that family was family was family. Oh, but wait, Dean hated the Campbells on sight, didn't he? Hmm.) Even after Dean took a spin at being a vampire, he had no more sympathy for the plight of a creature battered by instinct than he ever did. It was just fine for Dean to fuck and drink and sate his own cravings to his heart's content, but not so for anyone else IF it didn't jive with his own personal concept of right and wrong, black and white

[rokhal]

I suppose I could stand to be a little more even-handed.

Sam has a lot of things working against him. One is the way he approaches obstacles, challenges, and frustrations: he looks for novel solutions. When Sam sees things he doesn't like, he tries to find a way to change them, even when the outcome would be huge and totally unknown, and by necessity his mistakes are going to have serious consequences.

Sam also has terrible luck. Dean didn't get any flack when he bent the rules of the universe and bound Death. Dean gets Cas, Sam gets Ruby. Sam is, more often than not, Dean's foil. So we see Sam's mistakes more often and in a different light than Dean's. I still think Sam can be arrogant, inconsiderate, and contemptuous, but Sam works on avoiding that, and Sam is more often placed in situations where his faults are highlighted. It's kind of his thing

[quickreaver]

Really well said. And I totally agree: the changes we're seeing in BOTH of the boys are interesting and though painful, will eventually lead to maturing as characters. Neither of them are making perfect choices, but hell, if they did? What fun would it be! :D