SPN re-watch 1.03: Dead in the Water

[erushi]

'tis yet another SPN re-watching session, hurrah! Right on the heels of catching 5.08 too (and if you want to squee and/or bitch about the latest SPN episode in the comments with me, like whether you approved/disapproved of that thing they revealed about the *********, do feel free), so I'm feeling all Winchester-y. I'll keep this one short, as I'

Comments

[kimboosan]

....you'll keep this one short? *boggles* Uhhhh, okay. Whatver you say, Erushi. *smiles placatingly*

Anyway, onwards:
I think another thing worth noting is how insensitive Sam appears to be towards Dean's feelings...I think we see this exhibited in many episodes throughout the show, and I think this characteristic of Sam will eventually play an important role in episode 5.01 seasons on.

Yes, totally. I'm still tied to my idea of Sam being the one allowed to be a child at the cost of not being allowed to grow up, due to the protectiveness of both his father and his older brother, and so to me his behavior here speaks to that. Like a child he's not aware of other people's feelings, or when he is, he doesn't feel responsible. It is both part why he rebelled and why he was able to rebel, as Dean would never do. It's painful to watch, though -- and feeds into your later discussion of how Sam is not "reading" Dean well. He's never really had to, IMHO, it was always Dean's job to read him. From the perspective of season five, it is easy

[erushi]

It was supposed to be short. I swear it grew behind my back whilst I was distracted by ice cream and beer.

He's never really had to, IMHO, it was always Dean's job to read him.

Agreed. Which is why I can't quite blame Sam for being far from sensitive as far as Dean's thoughts are concerned. It's a little sad, though, that Sam doesn't seem to realise this one-way reading thing until the end of 5.01. I'm actually looking forward to how his character develops in the current season. It'd be interesting!

Closure's just to vague a term to define, I think, even in real life. *is philsophical*

I'm actually mortified by how think-y I'm being over these episodes. Whatever happened to mindless watching?! I swear I wasn't this think-y the first time I watched these episodes. Augh.

[callistosh65]

Lovely recap, and I love your ideas about Dean being so much more Mary's child in his priority of family above all, and the parallel of Dean and the behaviour of Mary's ghost. Marvellous thinky stuff, my dear!

The strongest reason to love and notice this epsiode for me is, as Jensen Ackles once commented, that "it gave us Kim." This was the first one that Kim Manners directed and it shows. Monster of the week? Sure, but the way it's shot, lit, and framed is *beautiful*, and I'm never surprised to see alot of DiTW clips in vids. The details like the ticking clock, the quiet despair of the Carltons, the way we get a reaction shot on Sam when Dean is speaking about being brave for his mother ( which is what Show just *doesn't* do so much of now, more's the pity), and the wonderfully creepy sequence as that figure spirals and drowns at the end - all make for an amazingly compelling episode.

Kim Manners *always* got relationship moments in there somewhere, always framed and lit everything so distinctively, and I miss his touch on the

[erushi]

It's strange how think-y I'm being. I swear I wasn't this think-y the first time I watched these episodes. I blame the later seasons, making me look at the old episodes in a new light and all. All the same... *tips hat*

DitW's durecting was definitely a cut above the previous two episodes. I think Kim Manners is a fantastic director, and like you, I wish he were still around to lend his magic touch to the show. That example of handing over the amulet you mentioned when 5.01 aired - I still wish the camera showed us how Sam reacted.

[saintvic]

This, I think, is probably one of the moments Sam/Dean-shippers cite as yet another sign of the boys' eternal love. The real cause of Sam's annoyance, however, appears to be his belief that Dean isn't doing enough to find their father.
*nods*
It’s weird the way people see or don’t see this sort of thing. For me I will never see the Sam/Dean although like you have done just here I could probably pick bits that would make people think that. However I’ll never be able to see them as anything other than just brothers, that love and concern is for family not as lovers. Still it makes me understand a little how some people can’t see the slash I find so obvious in other shows.

perhaps too wrapped up in how he feels and too convinced of his views that he fails to consider that there might be something more to the story
*nods in nodding agreement* Sam does focus very much on himself a lot throughout the show, I think he is used to being able to do what he wants despite the way they were brought up.

oh, boys, you two really don't cut it as

[erushi]

I think, as slashers, we will always be able to see potentially slashy bits. It's just up to us how we interpret it. Like, say, SG-1. All I ever saw between Jack and Daniel was a close and purely platonic friendship, but legions of fangirls saw otherwise. Likewise for SPN - I can see why people might find it slash. Heck, were they not brothers, I might be shipping the slash too. But what I see is, as you said, the love and concern of the kind between brothers, not lovers. I don't know. I recall reading a meta-post once, by someone who said that she would normally never consider shipping incest, but that the unique circumstances of the Winchesters makes it possible for her to. I guess the line's just finer in SPN, and much easier to cross. Heck, I've reached the point where I still neither see it nor ship it per se, but I'm perfectly willing to read Wincest fic if the writer's interpretation is sufficiently convincing