(no subject)
SPN 4.11 Family Remains
Anvils aside, I get the feeling that this episode is one I’ll be revisiting and digesting for awhile. There was a lot more than the surface anvil conks in play, and my head is jumping around on several different trains of thought.
Saving People, Hunting Things… the Family Business
From the very beginning, Dean’s mantra. Helping people, trying to spare them from having their lives ripped apart the way his own family’s was. Sure, he recognized that he was “a little twisted” (No Exit), but it was an agenda that made him feel good, like he was doing something worth doing.
John and Sam’s agenda? Revenge. Getting back at the thing that killed Mom and Jessica. At the demon who killed Dean. Dean presented as different from John and Sam because revenge was not his sole motivator.
But Hell changed things.
From “I’m a little twisted” to this:
I wasn’t like them. I was worse. They were animals, Sam, defending territory, and me? I did it for the sheer pleasure… I enjoyed it, Sam. They took me off the rack and I tortured souls and I liked it. All those years… all that pain… finally getting to deal some out yourself? I didn’t care who they put in front of me. Because that pain I felt - it just slipped away.
From saving people to ... this. Ironic that in the most twisted way, in Hell Dean finally embraced his family heritage of revenge. A showcase for the slippery slope that that path can lead to at its worst level.
Rage and pain and hate… it leads to nothing good. Take heed, Sam. Your brother’s example is the reason why that tunnel focus on revenge can turn a person from human to monster. Gordon Walker amped to a demon degree, one might say.
No, I’m not calling Dean a monster or a bad person. Hell broke him, damaged him in ways that he’s never going to be able to forget. But HumanDean vs. HellDean - two different mentalities. Now being forced to share headspace.
It’s gonna be great here, Kate. It really is.
Yeah, Mom. I’m sure. Everything’s gonna change.
Or not. Change of scene doesn’t fix what’s wrong. Dean in Hell - it took 30 years of a change of scene to break him. Now 10 years later getting yanked out of Hell isn’t going to instantly fix what’s wrong. Wishful thinking to hope otherwise. Callback to 4.08. Wishes and Hope. It’s all connected.
Fresh air, fresh start. After all, what could possibly go wrong?
Resurrected from Hell, given a second chance to be a hero-type, saving people, hunting things - Dean’s initial enthusiasm and seeming lack of impact from his trip Down Under is giving way to reality setting in.
I’ve saved some people, sure. I figured it made up for the lies and ditching chicks. (4.02)
Dean’s a guy who has trouble believing in God, but he does believe in karma. And now the weight he’s trying to run from, trying to redress even while knowing that it’s really impossible?
I got off that rack, and I started ripping them apart. I lost count of how many souls. (4.10)
No matter how many people I save, I can’t change that. I can’t fill this hole. Not ever. (4.11)
Which is where forgiveness comes in. Something that can’t be earned or bought. It’s a gift of mercy and understanding. Something Dean’s not too good at extending towards himself.
As Sam noted, Dean’s running from himself, and sooner or later he’s going to hit that wall. Here’s to hoping that Sam’ll be there to help Dean back up when that time comes. I am left with a hopeful message on this front, thanks to our paralleling family that was not okay, was damaged and traumatized, made victims of life through no fault of their own. And it left its mark on them. But they were still together, there at the end. Holding onto each other all the more.
At the end of the day, the family remains.
What? LALALALALA I can’t hear you, can’t look at the dark mirror family remains of two siblings made victims turned animals/monsters through no fault of their own. Because Sam and Dean - they’re there to act as checks and balances on each other, preventing that from happening to either of them. And they have something that those psycho siblings never had: a baseline knowledge of right and wrong to draw from.
That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it. *nods firmly*
Anvils aside, I get the feeling that this episode is one I’ll be revisiting and digesting for awhile. There was a lot more than the surface anvil conks in play, and my head is jumping around on several different trains of thought.
Saving People, Hunting Things… the Family Business
From the very beginning, Dean’s mantra. Helping people, trying to spare them from having their lives ripped apart the way his own family’s was. Sure, he recognized that he was “a little twisted” (No Exit), but it was an agenda that made him feel good, like he was doing something worth doing.
John and Sam’s agenda? Revenge. Getting back at the thing that killed Mom and Jessica. At the demon who killed Dean. Dean presented as different from John and Sam because revenge was not his sole motivator.
But Hell changed things.
From “I’m a little twisted” to this:
I wasn’t like them. I was worse. They were animals, Sam, defending territory, and me? I did it for the sheer pleasure… I enjoyed it, Sam. They took me off the rack and I tortured souls and I liked it. All those years… all that pain… finally getting to deal some out yourself? I didn’t care who they put in front of me. Because that pain I felt - it just slipped away.
From saving people to ... this. Ironic that in the most twisted way, in Hell Dean finally embraced his family heritage of revenge. A showcase for the slippery slope that that path can lead to at its worst level.
Rage and pain and hate… it leads to nothing good. Take heed, Sam. Your brother’s example is the reason why that tunnel focus on revenge can turn a person from human to monster. Gordon Walker amped to a demon degree, one might say.
No, I’m not calling Dean a monster or a bad person. Hell broke him, damaged him in ways that he’s never going to be able to forget. But HumanDean vs. HellDean - two different mentalities. Now being forced to share headspace.
It’s gonna be great here, Kate. It really is.
Yeah, Mom. I’m sure. Everything’s gonna change.
Or not. Change of scene doesn’t fix what’s wrong. Dean in Hell - it took 30 years of a change of scene to break him. Now 10 years later getting yanked out of Hell isn’t going to instantly fix what’s wrong. Wishful thinking to hope otherwise. Callback to 4.08. Wishes and Hope. It’s all connected.
Fresh air, fresh start. After all, what could possibly go wrong?
Resurrected from Hell, given a second chance to be a hero-type, saving people, hunting things - Dean’s initial enthusiasm and seeming lack of impact from his trip Down Under is giving way to reality setting in.
I’ve saved some people, sure. I figured it made up for the lies and ditching chicks. (4.02)
Dean’s a guy who has trouble believing in God, but he does believe in karma. And now the weight he’s trying to run from, trying to redress even while knowing that it’s really impossible?
I got off that rack, and I started ripping them apart. I lost count of how many souls. (4.10)
No matter how many people I save, I can’t change that. I can’t fill this hole. Not ever. (4.11)
Which is where forgiveness comes in. Something that can’t be earned or bought. It’s a gift of mercy and understanding. Something Dean’s not too good at extending towards himself.
As Sam noted, Dean’s running from himself, and sooner or later he’s going to hit that wall. Here’s to hoping that Sam’ll be there to help Dean back up when that time comes. I am left with a hopeful message on this front, thanks to our paralleling family that was not okay, was damaged and traumatized, made victims of life through no fault of their own. And it left its mark on them. But they were still together, there at the end. Holding onto each other all the more.
At the end of the day, the family remains.
What? LALALALALA I can’t hear you, can’t look at the dark mirror family remains of two siblings made victims turned animals/monsters through no fault of their own. Because Sam and Dean - they’re there to act as checks and balances on each other, preventing that from happening to either of them. And they have something that those psycho siblings never had: a baseline knowledge of right and wrong to draw from.
That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it. *nods firmly*