Death in Supernatural. And why it's the whole point.

[ash48]

If you haven't read Darry Jasper's How Supernatural Uses Death So Well (posted on Sciencefiction.com) then I recommend you do so. It's an excellent account of how Supernatural uses death. It also provides a great summing up of the deaths so far on the show.

Comments

[elliemurasaki]

http://soph.livejournal.com/227512.html

[ash48]

Thank you. I didn't think they were removing it from the posting form also. I knew about the comment one but I saw all sorts of changes I haven't seen before when making this post.

Looks like I'll have to check things out.
xx

[stormcloude]

Heheheh. I feel almost the opposite of you. I think death doesn't mean much on SPN anymore because we all know the characters are just gonna come back anyway. Cas will be back. At the end of S5 we knew Sam would come back. I'm sure Bobby will be back.

I'm not saying it's not a central theme, but sooner or later the boys are just gonna roll their eyes when someone close to them dies because they'll be back in six months anyway.

[ash48]

Hee! I think a lot of people thnk opposite to me. :). So far only Sam and dean have been the only ones to really return. (well, bobby after swan song and Adam very briefly). The others have been post death or AU appearances. I don't think they live thinking dead ones will come back to them. We don't know yet how cas or bobby will return. I, personally, don't think cas ever died and bobby....well, who knows? I'll be interested to see how they play that.

If I was them though I think I'd just call it damn quits anyway. They are doomed!! Well, everyone around them anyway. ;)

[missyjack]

As I said on twitter I haven't had any changes to how things post. The only thing different for me is how my icons appear to select for comments. I checked and my style is an adaptation of the S2 layout Smooth Sailing in case that's any help.

Also - yes great article. And what I'd add is that it is very much a riff on the whole horror genre, where deaths are plentiful and gory too - but have little meaning or impact on the survivors.

[ash48]

Hmmmm.... My comments haven't changed at all. Up until this post neither had my posting options, I use smooth sailing also. I'll see what it looks like tomorrow and see if I need to change my settings or something.

And yes yes. A great play on deaths in the horror genre. So much easier if they don't mean anything. Not so for our poor boys.
Xx

[maenad]

I think death and dying has almost become the central theme. Not quite, as I think family (namely, brotherhood) is still at the heart of the show, but death it right up there. As pointed out in the article, the deaths serve to shape the characters of Sam and Dean. Particularly Dean.I think the two are really essentially linked. Because if family is your greatest asset, then death is your greatest fear. Other shows can play the fake out card with death more often because there are so many other things they can take away from their characters - jobs are lost, relationships fail, possessions are damaged - but Sam and Dean don't really have anything but the people they've gathered around them (well, and their car, obviously). Their lives are perilous, and because they only have an essential cast of two, they really get to demonstrate that in ways that a comfortable ensemble cast can't. Even with their two leads they don't hold back that much - I mean, last season Sam was dead for eleven episodes. They found a way to keep his actor

[ash48]

Yes, I would definitely say they are linked. I love your reasoning here as to why is death used. There's little else that can be taken away from these boys - they don't have all those traditional "belongings". They are already stripped back. I just wonder how much more they can take. (I think this is what the writers have gone into the season asking).

And yes, the leads don't escape it either. As much as soulless!Sam killed me (still can't rewatch those eps) it was such a clever way of using death. With a show like this they can (and do) take advantage of being able to explore the nature of death and loss.

And yes re Dean. I hadn't really considered the scars left behind by Sam being there but really not (and the whole year without him). I mean, I know it's taken its toll - we are seeing it manifest itself in the current season, but to have everything going on ON TOP OF him thinking Sam could just vanish again.....ack! He's gotta crack soon. (which, I can't even image what that will look like this time around...)

<3

[maenad]

I just wonder how much more they can take. (I think this is what the writers have gone into the season asking).I think you're right - I mean, they said their theme this year was Butch and Sundance, and that's essentially the story of two people who were very good at what they did finding that the world had abruptly turned against them, and that they had to change to survive. That's what they've been doing to Sam and Dean: stripping them of what little they have and then asking them 'So what will you do now

[ash48]

Hee... I love that your comment got away from you. :)

And yeah, it's a very different set up to the actual film. I like the point that the world needs Sam and Dean in it. They can't just cop out because the world needs saving. Again. And they'll do it no doubt. Though a world being slowly devoured by leviathans could be raaather interesting....

[amnisias]

Interesting thinky thoughts, I approve