Meta/Picspam: Separations and Reunions in Supernatural
Author: ash48 (with zimshan)
Artist: zimshan
Title: Time after Time: Seven Years of Winchesters and the Separation Theme
Subject: The significance of separations and reunions in the Supernatural 'verse.
Summary: How Sam and Dean's experience of being separated time and again might help them deal with their current situation.
Meta by ash48 (with zimshan) Artwork by zimshan
Compiled for theheartofspn
A while back I examined the number of times the boys have been separated and reunited during seasons 1 to 6.11 of Supernatural ( Return to Me). As season seven ended with another separation it seems an appropriate time to revisit this theme and take a look at why separations and reunions are so important in the Supernatural 'verse.
(NOTE: There are NO S8 spoilers in the text. I am somewhat spoiled for S8 so I don't mind discussing them but please note if your comment will contain a spoiler so others can avoid it if they want to).
ETA: Gorgeous vid by secretlytodream on the theme of separations and reunions: This Place Called Home
Season seven ended with the boys, once again, separated. As much as it can hurt (annoy? frustrate? please?) us to see them apart it also carries much significance. It not only gives us fabulous angst (and often a reunion hug! \o/), it also gives us a chance to see how they each respond when separated from each other and thus learn more about their characters.
How will this separation differ from the past ones? Will their past experiences assist in helping them get through this one? How awesome will the reunion hug be?
Let's look back and see what they've already been through and how this might help them now.
It's important to remember that the series actually starts after the boys have been separated for some time (Pilot 2005). We learn during the course of the show that the separation created deep issues within the family - John telling Sam never to return, Sam leaving despite his family’s wishes for him to remain and Dean being left to, essentially, fight on his own. All of these issues have been explored at some stage during the course of the series.
As the seasons progress we discover just how “inseparable” (4.19 Jump the Shark) and “irrationally co-dependent” (5.18 Point of No Return) these two are. They can be separated physically (i.e. The Benders, Hunted, Free to be You and Me), or emotionally (i.e. Everybody Loves a Clown, much of S4 and first half of S6). Whenever they are voluntarily or, more often, involuntarily pulled apart we see that it isn’t long before they find their way back to each other.
Sure, the show needs them to be together but I love that they use them being apart as a way of exploring their individual insecurities, needs and the depth of their love for each other.
As I previously mentioned, Sam's decision to go to Stanford has been a source of much angst and character exploration throughout the show. Sam demonstrated an ability to go against his father's wishes and pursue a "normal" life. Dean showed us that he could survive on his own but...
Dean: I can’t do this alone.
Sam: Yes, you can.
Dean: Yeah, well... I don’t want to. (Pilot)
However, it isn't until Scarecrow (1.11) that the separation theme begins to emerge. Within this time, as Sam and Dean had been working as partners, there was a growing agitation developing between them and their different approaches to the job. This erupts in Sam breaking away from Dean to pursue his own course of action. As with many of the separations in the show, they find themselves in trouble when they are apart. Sam returns to Dean when he senses that his brother is in trouble and by doing this Sam also escapes the early clutches of Meg.
It's significant because when they are back together they have a chance to reflect on what it means to be apart. Sam sums it up perfectly:
Sam: You and me. We’re all that’s left. So, if we’re gonna see this through, we’re gonna do it together...
The notion that they are better together is revisited a number of times throughout the series. It's not always verbalised. We mostly see it in their actions and the strength they have as one unit.
The next major separation is Sam's death. This is a significant turning point in the show and demonstrates the extraordinary lengths one is prepared to go for the other. Dean sells his soul in order for his brother to live. It's a huge sacrifice, but Dean knows that without Sam life isn't going to be worth living. Dean needs Sam around; otherwise the job and his reasons for living are diminished.
Bobby: Something big is going down, end of the world big.
Dean: Well then LET IT END!
A world without Sam in it isn't worth saving.
Their will to fight because of the other is played out a number of times during the series. We later see the lengths Sam is prepared to go to save Dean from Hell (flashbacks in 4.09 show Sam attempting to sell his soul) and learn that Sam really didn't fare very well without Dean around. It's always struck me that Dean's famous line "as long as I'm around, nothing bad will happen to you" (1.14) is shown exactly for what it is when he isn't around. Much harm comes to Sam in the form of his relationship with Ruby, his blood addiction and ultimately letting Lucifer free. In Sam's mind he is fighting for Dean, as revenge for what's happened to Dean.
The boys are, quite frankly, a mess when the other isn't around. Dean wasn't able to live with the loss of Sam and Sam went completely off the rails when Dean went to Hell. There are other instances where they are separated that leave them not quite "whole". Sam's absence after he jumped into the pit left Dean with a new family. Initially he seemed as though he was faring pretty well - slipping into his new, "normal" life. But it didn't take long (one phone call from Sam requesting help in 6.02) for Dean to immediately be back by his side.
Lisa knew it...
"And now you know your brother's out there, things are different. You don't want to be here, Dean." (6.02 Two and a Half Men)
and
"...but the minute he walked through that door, I knew it was over. You two have the most unhealthy, tangled up, crazy thing that I've ever seen, and as long as he's in your life, you're never gonna be happy." (6.06, You Can't Handle The Truth)
Even when Sam and Dean decided to mutually part ways, (5.03 Free to Be You and Me) it's still Sam's first instinct to call his brother after Lucifer's first visitation. And Dean still answers. He initially says no to Sam and then realises that actually they are better off together than apart.
Dean: The point is... maybe we are each other's Achilles' heel. Maybe they'll find a way to use us against each other, I don't know... I just know we're all we've got. More than that, we keep each other human.
The idea that they are better together is another theme that we see repeated a number of times throughout the show. Their will to continue to live and fight, they recognize, exists for each other. The best example of this is in Swan Song when Dean, who has completely run out of options for saving Sam or the world, follows Luci!Sam to the battlefield because "I'm not gonna let him die alone". It was because Dean was there that Sam was able to overtake Lucifer. Neither could have done it without another.
Even soulless!Sam says to Dean "things are better with you around". (6.01) The brothers were emotionally disconnected for the first half of season six because Sam was without a soul. Dean recognised that it wasn't about having an empty shell of a brother around. Sure, he could fight and he was a damn good hunter but he lacked the very thing that made him worth fighting for. His heart ... his soul.
Once again Dean went to extraordinary lengths to have Sam's soul retrieved. Death recognised that these men work best as a unit and assisted Dean is restoring Sam's soul. It wasn't until episode 6.12 (Like a Virgin) that we (finally!!) got the heartfelt reunion hug. YAY!
The emotional separation present during the soulless!Sam period was significant because it demonstrated exactly why Sam and Dean are so strong together. It showed us what each of them brings to their partnership and the imbalance that results when even part of one brother is absent. Soulless!Sam served to highlight (to us and Dean) not only what makes real!Sam tick, but also what makes Sam-and-Dean tick.
Since then the boys have been on a journey of reconciliation and slowly, but surely, they have re-built their trust and emotional bond. But it hasn't always been smooth sailing.
The theme of separation and reunion continues in season seven. We see some emotional separation through individual choices (Dean killing Amy behind Sam's back in 7.03 The Girl Next Door) and some physical ones due to forces outside of their control (Sam being taken in Adventures in Babysitting and Dean pulled into the past in Time After Time).
Dean's lie came out of the same sentiment as Sam's decision to keep the hallucinations from Dean. It was born out of one brother wanting to protect the other. Bobby comments on it right before his death, "You know, you worry about him. All he does is worry about you." In trying to spare each other more pain, they end up worrying about each other more than themselves. Dean carries this lie for four episodes, increasing his personal stress (and drinking) and the tension between them. When Sam learns the truth he does what he's done many times before - he leaves.
I love their consequent reunion because it's not one we've seen before. The idea that they'd accidentally run into each other while investigating the same case is different - and very plausible. During that episode (7.07 The Mentalists) they slowly work their way back to each other. By the end they both acknowledge their mistakes and apologies are made. Whether you think they were correct or not (there was a lot of dissatisfaction with that storyline) is immaterial at this point because it was more about them actually finding common ground that allowed them to be together again. It was messy because that's what lying to each other does.
My favourite separation (quite possibly of the whole series!) is in Time After Time (7.12). Dean, by virtue of being in the wrong place at the right time, gets sucked into another realm by a supernatural being while Sam is left alone to wonder what has happened. Sound familiar? It should, this is exactly where the brothers were left in the season seven finale.
In Time After Time, Dean learns what he can from his new environment, and figures out a way to communicate across time to tell his brother what he's learned. And because Sam never gives up faith that his brother will find a way back to him, he gets the message, and is able to use the information to get Dean back. They are successful, because both brothers see to their jobs.
The question in relating this to the finale is, how is a similar kind of communication possible? What happens if there's not one? We have been vaguely told Purgatory is sealed up tight. Where can Sam even start if he doesn't have the basic facts? Well, Sam can start with that faith. Faith in their past, that has made it clear: That with every separation, they always find a way back to each other.
If you're lost and you look then you will find me
Time after time.
In the season six finale (6.23 The Man Who Knew too Much), Sam is in a coma, stuck in his own mind and Dean is left feeling absolutely helpless. What is happening in Sam's head is completely out of Dean's control. What can he do but sit by his bedside? Bobby finally gets him up, convinces him they have to leave and continue with the job so Sam has a world to come back to. Dean, as an act of faith that Sam will find a way back, scribbles the address of where they'll be and leaves a gun. Sam does indeed find his way back. He decides to take on the worst horrors of Hell and continue to live simply because "I'm not leaving his brother out there alone".
This was echoed by Dean earlier this year:
Dean: I'm not going to quit. It's not even an option. I'm not going to walk out on my brother. (7.11 Adventures in Babysitting)
To say Dean's had a rough couple of years is putting it mildly. Sam's trip inside his own noggin gave him the clarity he needed to get through season seven. Could Purgatory be Dean's clarity of mind? When the chips are down and the stakes are high, the Winchesters know what is most important.
Sometimes it's the one that is lost who ends up finding his way back.
And finally, I don't think the when will they be back together is particularly important. It is extremely unlikely (can I say impossible?) that this separation won't hold great significance to them both. Whether we see them together in the first scene or in 5 episodes, it doesn't really matter. It's what damage the separation will have done and how it has affected their characters that will be both important and interesting. I am sure they will be able to show us that no matter when they decide to bring the boys back together.
The fact that the boys end up being separated at the end of season seven is very exciting as it not only continues a long-running theme but it presents an opportunity to witness, ONCE AGAIN the lengths the boys will go to for each other. We'll learn more about their characters and understand what it is exactly that makes these two so much better as ONE. Which... YAY! It's an aspect of the show that I live for! All I can say is.... BRING IT ON!!
Thanks: Huge thanks to zimshan for the beta, the extra thinky thoughts and stunning graphics. I love the way her cap choices and juxtaposition speak volumes. <3 Thanks also to maenad for the beta and for her wonderful thinky ideas. *hugs*
Fancy writing some meta for our Winchester Summer Lovefest? Consider signing up! We'll be calling for prompts soon so we're sure there will be lots to write about!
Artist: zimshan
Title: Time after Time: Seven Years of Winchesters and the Separation Theme
Subject: The significance of separations and reunions in the Supernatural 'verse.
Summary: How Sam and Dean's experience of being separated time and again might help them deal with their current situation.
Meta by ash48 (with zimshan) Artwork by zimshan
Compiled for theheartofspn
A while back I examined the number of times the boys have been separated and reunited during seasons 1 to 6.11 of Supernatural ( Return to Me). As season seven ended with another separation it seems an appropriate time to revisit this theme and take a look at why separations and reunions are so important in the Supernatural 'verse.
(NOTE: There are NO S8 spoilers in the text. I am somewhat spoiled for S8 so I don't mind discussing them but please note if your comment will contain a spoiler so others can avoid it if they want to).
ETA: Gorgeous vid by secretlytodream on the theme of separations and reunions: This Place Called Home
Season seven ended with the boys, once again, separated. As much as it can hurt (annoy? frustrate? please?) us to see them apart it also carries much significance. It not only gives us fabulous angst (and often a reunion hug! \o/), it also gives us a chance to see how they each respond when separated from each other and thus learn more about their characters.
How will this separation differ from the past ones? Will their past experiences assist in helping them get through this one? How awesome will the reunion hug be?
Let's look back and see what they've already been through and how this might help them now.
It's important to remember that the series actually starts after the boys have been separated for some time (Pilot 2005). We learn during the course of the show that the separation created deep issues within the family - John telling Sam never to return, Sam leaving despite his family’s wishes for him to remain and Dean being left to, essentially, fight on his own. All of these issues have been explored at some stage during the course of the series.
As the seasons progress we discover just how “inseparable” (4.19 Jump the Shark) and “irrationally co-dependent” (5.18 Point of No Return) these two are. They can be separated physically (i.e. The Benders, Hunted, Free to be You and Me), or emotionally (i.e. Everybody Loves a Clown, much of S4 and first half of S6). Whenever they are voluntarily or, more often, involuntarily pulled apart we see that it isn’t long before they find their way back to each other.
Sure, the show needs them to be together but I love that they use them being apart as a way of exploring their individual insecurities, needs and the depth of their love for each other.
As I previously mentioned, Sam's decision to go to Stanford has been a source of much angst and character exploration throughout the show. Sam demonstrated an ability to go against his father's wishes and pursue a "normal" life. Dean showed us that he could survive on his own but...
Dean: I can’t do this alone.
Sam: Yes, you can.
Dean: Yeah, well... I don’t want to. (Pilot)
However, it isn't until Scarecrow (1.11) that the separation theme begins to emerge. Within this time, as Sam and Dean had been working as partners, there was a growing agitation developing between them and their different approaches to the job. This erupts in Sam breaking away from Dean to pursue his own course of action. As with many of the separations in the show, they find themselves in trouble when they are apart. Sam returns to Dean when he senses that his brother is in trouble and by doing this Sam also escapes the early clutches of Meg.
It's significant because when they are back together they have a chance to reflect on what it means to be apart. Sam sums it up perfectly:
Sam: You and me. We’re all that’s left. So, if we’re gonna see this through, we’re gonna do it together...
The notion that they are better together is revisited a number of times throughout the series. It's not always verbalised. We mostly see it in their actions and the strength they have as one unit.
The next major separation is Sam's death. This is a significant turning point in the show and demonstrates the extraordinary lengths one is prepared to go for the other. Dean sells his soul in order for his brother to live. It's a huge sacrifice, but Dean knows that without Sam life isn't going to be worth living. Dean needs Sam around; otherwise the job and his reasons for living are diminished.
Bobby: Something big is going down, end of the world big.
Dean: Well then LET IT END!
A world without Sam in it isn't worth saving.
Their will to fight because of the other is played out a number of times during the series. We later see the lengths Sam is prepared to go to save Dean from Hell (flashbacks in 4.09 show Sam attempting to sell his soul) and learn that Sam really didn't fare very well without Dean around. It's always struck me that Dean's famous line "as long as I'm around, nothing bad will happen to you" (1.14) is shown exactly for what it is when he isn't around. Much harm comes to Sam in the form of his relationship with Ruby, his blood addiction and ultimately letting Lucifer free. In Sam's mind he is fighting for Dean, as revenge for what's happened to Dean.
The boys are, quite frankly, a mess when the other isn't around. Dean wasn't able to live with the loss of Sam and Sam went completely off the rails when Dean went to Hell. There are other instances where they are separated that leave them not quite "whole". Sam's absence after he jumped into the pit left Dean with a new family. Initially he seemed as though he was faring pretty well - slipping into his new, "normal" life. But it didn't take long (one phone call from Sam requesting help in 6.02) for Dean to immediately be back by his side.
Lisa knew it...
"And now you know your brother's out there, things are different. You don't want to be here, Dean." (6.02 Two and a Half Men)
and
"...but the minute he walked through that door, I knew it was over. You two have the most unhealthy, tangled up, crazy thing that I've ever seen, and as long as he's in your life, you're never gonna be happy." (6.06, You Can't Handle The Truth)
Even when Sam and Dean decided to mutually part ways, (5.03 Free to Be You and Me) it's still Sam's first instinct to call his brother after Lucifer's first visitation. And Dean still answers. He initially says no to Sam and then realises that actually they are better off together than apart.
Dean: The point is... maybe we are each other's Achilles' heel. Maybe they'll find a way to use us against each other, I don't know... I just know we're all we've got. More than that, we keep each other human.
The idea that they are better together is another theme that we see repeated a number of times throughout the show. Their will to continue to live and fight, they recognize, exists for each other. The best example of this is in Swan Song when Dean, who has completely run out of options for saving Sam or the world, follows Luci!Sam to the battlefield because "I'm not gonna let him die alone". It was because Dean was there that Sam was able to overtake Lucifer. Neither could have done it without another.
Even soulless!Sam says to Dean "things are better with you around". (6.01) The brothers were emotionally disconnected for the first half of season six because Sam was without a soul. Dean recognised that it wasn't about having an empty shell of a brother around. Sure, he could fight and he was a damn good hunter but he lacked the very thing that made him worth fighting for. His heart ... his soul.
Once again Dean went to extraordinary lengths to have Sam's soul retrieved. Death recognised that these men work best as a unit and assisted Dean is restoring Sam's soul. It wasn't until episode 6.12 (Like a Virgin) that we (finally!!) got the heartfelt reunion hug. YAY!
The emotional separation present during the soulless!Sam period was significant because it demonstrated exactly why Sam and Dean are so strong together. It showed us what each of them brings to their partnership and the imbalance that results when even part of one brother is absent. Soulless!Sam served to highlight (to us and Dean) not only what makes real!Sam tick, but also what makes Sam-and-Dean tick.
Since then the boys have been on a journey of reconciliation and slowly, but surely, they have re-built their trust and emotional bond. But it hasn't always been smooth sailing.
The theme of separation and reunion continues in season seven. We see some emotional separation through individual choices (Dean killing Amy behind Sam's back in 7.03 The Girl Next Door) and some physical ones due to forces outside of their control (Sam being taken in Adventures in Babysitting and Dean pulled into the past in Time After Time).
Dean's lie came out of the same sentiment as Sam's decision to keep the hallucinations from Dean. It was born out of one brother wanting to protect the other. Bobby comments on it right before his death, "You know, you worry about him. All he does is worry about you." In trying to spare each other more pain, they end up worrying about each other more than themselves. Dean carries this lie for four episodes, increasing his personal stress (and drinking) and the tension between them. When Sam learns the truth he does what he's done many times before - he leaves.
I love their consequent reunion because it's not one we've seen before. The idea that they'd accidentally run into each other while investigating the same case is different - and very plausible. During that episode (7.07 The Mentalists) they slowly work their way back to each other. By the end they both acknowledge their mistakes and apologies are made. Whether you think they were correct or not (there was a lot of dissatisfaction with that storyline) is immaterial at this point because it was more about them actually finding common ground that allowed them to be together again. It was messy because that's what lying to each other does.
My favourite separation (quite possibly of the whole series!) is in Time After Time (7.12). Dean, by virtue of being in the wrong place at the right time, gets sucked into another realm by a supernatural being while Sam is left alone to wonder what has happened. Sound familiar? It should, this is exactly where the brothers were left in the season seven finale.
In Time After Time, Dean learns what he can from his new environment, and figures out a way to communicate across time to tell his brother what he's learned. And because Sam never gives up faith that his brother will find a way back to him, he gets the message, and is able to use the information to get Dean back. They are successful, because both brothers see to their jobs.
The question in relating this to the finale is, how is a similar kind of communication possible? What happens if there's not one? We have been vaguely told Purgatory is sealed up tight. Where can Sam even start if he doesn't have the basic facts? Well, Sam can start with that faith. Faith in their past, that has made it clear: That with every separation, they always find a way back to each other.
If you're lost and you look then you will find me
Time after time.
In the season six finale (6.23 The Man Who Knew too Much), Sam is in a coma, stuck in his own mind and Dean is left feeling absolutely helpless. What is happening in Sam's head is completely out of Dean's control. What can he do but sit by his bedside? Bobby finally gets him up, convinces him they have to leave and continue with the job so Sam has a world to come back to. Dean, as an act of faith that Sam will find a way back, scribbles the address of where they'll be and leaves a gun. Sam does indeed find his way back. He decides to take on the worst horrors of Hell and continue to live simply because "I'm not leaving his brother out there alone".
This was echoed by Dean earlier this year:
Dean: I'm not going to quit. It's not even an option. I'm not going to walk out on my brother. (7.11 Adventures in Babysitting)
To say Dean's had a rough couple of years is putting it mildly. Sam's trip inside his own noggin gave him the clarity he needed to get through season seven. Could Purgatory be Dean's clarity of mind? When the chips are down and the stakes are high, the Winchesters know what is most important.
Sometimes it's the one that is lost who ends up finding his way back.
And finally, I don't think the when will they be back together is particularly important. It is extremely unlikely (can I say impossible?) that this separation won't hold great significance to them both. Whether we see them together in the first scene or in 5 episodes, it doesn't really matter. It's what damage the separation will have done and how it has affected their characters that will be both important and interesting. I am sure they will be able to show us that no matter when they decide to bring the boys back together.
The fact that the boys end up being separated at the end of season seven is very exciting as it not only continues a long-running theme but it presents an opportunity to witness, ONCE AGAIN the lengths the boys will go to for each other. We'll learn more about their characters and understand what it is exactly that makes these two so much better as ONE. Which... YAY! It's an aspect of the show that I live for! All I can say is.... BRING IT ON!!
Thanks: Huge thanks to zimshan for the beta, the extra thinky thoughts and stunning graphics. I love the way her cap choices and juxtaposition speak volumes. <3 Thanks also to maenad for the beta and for her wonderful thinky ideas. *hugs*
Fancy writing some meta for our Winchester Summer Lovefest? Consider signing up! We'll be calling for prompts soon so we're sure there will be lots to write about!