Sam and Dean's Adventures In The (Sports God's) Closet
[Responses to (and spoilers for) 8x03]
I've seen some criticisms of Sam's behaviour (or the writing for him) so far this season, so I just thought I'd weigh in there with my (optimistic) interpretation, and hope that my faith pays off.
(Most of what follows is adapted from my comments in the episode response thread at spn_party, so if you were following that, you may have read it before.)
Sam's line about wanting "what I've never had before: a normal life" has drawn some criticism, especially from people who think that either he or the writers are forgetting about Stanford and Jess, or implying that they don't matter. (This also adds fuel to theories that Sam is so very out of character that he's under some kind of influence, but I'll get to that in a minute.)
My impression with that line wasn't that he was minimising his Stanford time, but that a normal life was what he tried for there and never managed to achieve. He never quite managed to get away from Dean and Dad, never entirely managed to define himself in some way that didn't include them, never managed to feel like he quite fit in. Which, honestly, is a pretty common feeling for people of the age he was at the time - I like the fact that Sam can now come back to those same ideas now, with more maturity, and go "actually, this isn't some impossible starry distant dream, this is something I can achieve and work towards realistically." And presumably in doing so he's working from skills and knowledge and experience gained during his Stanford time: building on it, not discarding it, making it into what he always wanted it to be.
I don't think the Amelia/Sam situation is going ot be a repeat of the Lisa/Dean arc. Obviously it's meant to be read in comparison to that, but Sam's attitude to the relationship and to what it represents are so very different to what Dean was hoping to get out of the Lisa experiment that I'm interested to see how it plays out.
Scenario: as before, this is a woman who represents a normal life, rather than (so far as I'm yet convinced) someone that the Winchester has any particularly deep feeling for. But I think for Sam that might work, or rather, if it fails it won't be because of that. His relationship with Amelia could crash for normal relationship reasons and he could still have a normal life, because, unlike Dean, he's capable of having a life rather than just squatting in someone else's. And he's far more clear-eyed about it: Dean was determined to have a normal life because Sam wanted him to but was completely unsuited to it, while Sam knows his own limitations and the reasons for and against and has decided, yes, actually, I can do this, here is how.
As regards his attempts to stop hunting and distance himself from Dean in pursuit of this goal, I can't see that that either is out of character. Dean protests that it is, that Sam "just thinks that now", refuses to acknowledge that he might be serious, and implies by his vehemence that what Sam means is "I want to abandon you". And a lot of fans seem to be reading it the same way.
But that's the problem: this is Dean's reaction. Given how flawed and broken his perception is right now, given how messed up his behaviour is, his analysis of the situation is even more unreliable than it usually is. I think the very fact that he takes that stance should immediately put us on our guard against accepting that interpretation ourselves. :)
That's not what Sam's saying at all. It's hunting he wants to quit, not Dean. It's a normal life he wants, not one without Dean. When he said 'maybe you don't need me', it wasn't a rejection of Dean - it was a direct reaction to Dean saying HUNTING WITH SAM IS THE BEST THING EVER AND IS ALL I WANT FROM LIFE. It was Sam saying, 'well, maybe, but that's not the life I want', rather than 'I don't want to be around you anymore'.
The very fact that he keeps trying to explain this to Dean, repeatedly over the last three episodes, says he's not trying to cut him off, he's trying to find a way to include him - to get his feedback, to keep in contact, maybe some arrangement like Sam can do the research and look for cases (like he used to while Dean was in Purgatory) and pass them on to his brother. Something. But they can't discuss it, because all Dean hears is I WANT TO LEAVE YOU, and he immediately shuts Sam down, tells him he isn't serious, can't mean it, will grow out of it.
I'm impressed, actually, by how little Sam is rising to that. It's not getting his back up the way it would have done in seasons 1 and 2, even season 5, to have Dean negating his ability to have thoughts and opinions of his own. He doesn't need Dean's validation anymore; but he's still trying to reach out, because Dean obviously still needs him.
And while perhaps the writers may occasionally lapse, Jared knows Sam inside out, and it seems to me that this is how he's playing these scenes: he's being patient, he's being firm, but he's not overreacting like he has in the past because, one, he doesn't need to now (he doesn't need to fight against Dean to be his own person), and two, because he knows that right now, Dean needs him.
Basically, I am interested to see where the show writers are going with this and, though I don't read Wincest very often, what our writers who do ship them will make of this new dynamic in their relationship!
... and I was happily clinging to this interpretation up until that damn birthday cake happened.
So this is my take on that:
DO NOT KNOW HOW TO DEAL WITH BIRTHDAY
THIS IS THE SORT OF THING DEAN WOULD HAVE TRIED TO DO WHEN WE WERE LITTLE
AND DAD WAS OUT ON A HUNT AND HAD FORGOTTEN
BUT DEAN WOULD FIND SOME WAY TO MAKE IT SPECIAL
EVEN IF IT WAS JUST BREAKING INTO THE CANDY DISPENSER OUT THE FRONT OF THE MOTEL AND ARRANGING ALL THE CANDY TO MAKE IT LOOK LIKE A CAKE
AND NOW DEAN IS GONE
AND BOBBY SAID WHEN IT'S YOUR TIME TO GO GO SO I CAN'T CHASE HIM
AND THIS IS THE BEST I CAN HAVE AND IT LOOKS PERFECT AND IDYLLIC AND EVEN HAS NICE HAZY LIGHTING AND A DOG INSTEAD OF DODGY STREET LIGHTS FLICKING ON AND OFF OUTSIDE THE WINDOW AND CATS HAVING A FIGHT SOMEWHERE IN A BACK LOT
SO WHY DOES IT NOT FEEL RIGHT?
There. Solved.
I've seen some criticisms of Sam's behaviour (or the writing for him) so far this season, so I just thought I'd weigh in there with my (optimistic) interpretation, and hope that my faith pays off.
(Most of what follows is adapted from my comments in the episode response thread at spn_party, so if you were following that, you may have read it before.)
Sam's line about wanting "what I've never had before: a normal life" has drawn some criticism, especially from people who think that either he or the writers are forgetting about Stanford and Jess, or implying that they don't matter. (This also adds fuel to theories that Sam is so very out of character that he's under some kind of influence, but I'll get to that in a minute.)
My impression with that line wasn't that he was minimising his Stanford time, but that a normal life was what he tried for there and never managed to achieve. He never quite managed to get away from Dean and Dad, never entirely managed to define himself in some way that didn't include them, never managed to feel like he quite fit in. Which, honestly, is a pretty common feeling for people of the age he was at the time - I like the fact that Sam can now come back to those same ideas now, with more maturity, and go "actually, this isn't some impossible starry distant dream, this is something I can achieve and work towards realistically." And presumably in doing so he's working from skills and knowledge and experience gained during his Stanford time: building on it, not discarding it, making it into what he always wanted it to be.
I don't think the Amelia/Sam situation is going ot be a repeat of the Lisa/Dean arc. Obviously it's meant to be read in comparison to that, but Sam's attitude to the relationship and to what it represents are so very different to what Dean was hoping to get out of the Lisa experiment that I'm interested to see how it plays out.
Scenario: as before, this is a woman who represents a normal life, rather than (so far as I'm yet convinced) someone that the Winchester has any particularly deep feeling for. But I think for Sam that might work, or rather, if it fails it won't be because of that. His relationship with Amelia could crash for normal relationship reasons and he could still have a normal life, because, unlike Dean, he's capable of having a life rather than just squatting in someone else's. And he's far more clear-eyed about it: Dean was determined to have a normal life because Sam wanted him to but was completely unsuited to it, while Sam knows his own limitations and the reasons for and against and has decided, yes, actually, I can do this, here is how.
As regards his attempts to stop hunting and distance himself from Dean in pursuit of this goal, I can't see that that either is out of character. Dean protests that it is, that Sam "just thinks that now", refuses to acknowledge that he might be serious, and implies by his vehemence that what Sam means is "I want to abandon you". And a lot of fans seem to be reading it the same way.
But that's the problem: this is Dean's reaction. Given how flawed and broken his perception is right now, given how messed up his behaviour is, his analysis of the situation is even more unreliable than it usually is. I think the very fact that he takes that stance should immediately put us on our guard against accepting that interpretation ourselves. :)
That's not what Sam's saying at all. It's hunting he wants to quit, not Dean. It's a normal life he wants, not one without Dean. When he said 'maybe you don't need me', it wasn't a rejection of Dean - it was a direct reaction to Dean saying HUNTING WITH SAM IS THE BEST THING EVER AND IS ALL I WANT FROM LIFE. It was Sam saying, 'well, maybe, but that's not the life I want', rather than 'I don't want to be around you anymore'.
The very fact that he keeps trying to explain this to Dean, repeatedly over the last three episodes, says he's not trying to cut him off, he's trying to find a way to include him - to get his feedback, to keep in contact, maybe some arrangement like Sam can do the research and look for cases (like he used to while Dean was in Purgatory) and pass them on to his brother. Something. But they can't discuss it, because all Dean hears is I WANT TO LEAVE YOU, and he immediately shuts Sam down, tells him he isn't serious, can't mean it, will grow out of it.
I'm impressed, actually, by how little Sam is rising to that. It's not getting his back up the way it would have done in seasons 1 and 2, even season 5, to have Dean negating his ability to have thoughts and opinions of his own. He doesn't need Dean's validation anymore; but he's still trying to reach out, because Dean obviously still needs him.
And while perhaps the writers may occasionally lapse, Jared knows Sam inside out, and it seems to me that this is how he's playing these scenes: he's being patient, he's being firm, but he's not overreacting like he has in the past because, one, he doesn't need to now (he doesn't need to fight against Dean to be his own person), and two, because he knows that right now, Dean needs him.
Basically, I am interested to see where the show writers are going with this and, though I don't read Wincest very often, what our writers who do ship them will make of this new dynamic in their relationship!
... and I was happily clinging to this interpretation up until that damn birthday cake happened.
So this is my take on that:
DO NOT KNOW HOW TO DEAL WITH BIRTHDAY
THIS IS THE SORT OF THING DEAN WOULD HAVE TRIED TO DO WHEN WE WERE LITTLE
AND DAD WAS OUT ON A HUNT AND HAD FORGOTTEN
BUT DEAN WOULD FIND SOME WAY TO MAKE IT SPECIAL
EVEN IF IT WAS JUST BREAKING INTO THE CANDY DISPENSER OUT THE FRONT OF THE MOTEL AND ARRANGING ALL THE CANDY TO MAKE IT LOOK LIKE A CAKE
AND NOW DEAN IS GONE
AND BOBBY SAID WHEN IT'S YOUR TIME TO GO GO SO I CAN'T CHASE HIM
AND THIS IS THE BEST I CAN HAVE AND IT LOOKS PERFECT AND IDYLLIC AND EVEN HAS NICE HAZY LIGHTING AND A DOG INSTEAD OF DODGY STREET LIGHTS FLICKING ON AND OFF OUTSIDE THE WINDOW AND CATS HAVING A FIGHT SOMEWHERE IN A BACK LOT
SO WHY DOES IT NOT FEEL RIGHT?
There. Solved.