An attempt to reconcile Dean's current characterization as growth rather than lazy-writing reversion
I'm in the odd position of having admired the production, direction, and over all quality of the first three episodes (well, except for the writing of episode 3, which was kind of bad in spots and confusing to boot) but have been unable to say that I've enjoyed them. If Carver is planning an ambitious, slow-reveal story arc, he needs rely less on the (at this point, sorely tried) good faith of the viewers and more on nuanced writing. At this point I could lay out the list of problems in how they're handling Sam, but I don't even want to try until they reveal more details (which is what I thought 8x03 was supposed to do, but, well...).
So!
We've heard a lot about how this season is going to show how the two brothers experienced very different things over the past year, how that time changed them, and how they'll have to learn how to work together again. Since this season is supposed to be all about perspective, I wanted to analyze whether Dean's current characterization and behavior-towards Sam in particular-could be viewed as a growth (or at least understandable transition) of character and not just a reversion to S1/2!Dean stripped of key sympathetic traits.
So first, let's sum up just who that likeable fellow was back in the day:
-Saw the hunt as a calling- “the family business”
-Could take genuine enjoyment from 'the life,'
source: http://jessyver.livejournal.com/16456.html?thread=85064
-Partook in simple pleasures-food, music, sex, magic fingers, etc.
-Showed moments of surprising vulnerability and insecurity, the obvious being whenever his family was concerned (“Sometimes I feel like I'm barely holding it together... without you and dad...” - Salvation), but he would also show glimpses when connecting to strangers (e.g. the boy Lucas in “Dead in the Water” or the terminal case Layla in “Faith”).
And of course...
-Loved his brother fiercely
As time went on, the veneer wore thin and we got the second incarnation of Dean, which lasted us pretty much until the end of season 7. Aside from sporadic applications of the previously mentioned traits, he mostly consisted of:
-“I'm tired,” (2x09, 3x01, Season 4, 5x18, etc.)
and
Moving to who we're dealing with now, let's examine 3 things.
1. The return of Dean's [positive] drive to hunt. They chose for the first time in several seasons to feature Dean's “Pick up where he left off...” in the Road So Far, thus cuing us in to Dean's sense of purpose. 8x03 is the first stand-alone hunt of the season, and it starts off with a gleeful and eager-to-hunt Dean.
2. Dean's certainty and irritation re: Sam. In 8x03, we are told that Sam once again has decided he wants out-allowing us a strange callback to Season 1, Shadow, a similar scene with wildly different emotional context.
Sam: Dean, we are a family. I’d do anything for you. But things will never be the way they were before.
Dean: Could be.
Sam: I don’t want them to be. I'm not gonna live this life forever. Dean, when this is all over, you’re gonna have to let me go my own way.
Dean doesn't have a response outside of being obviously upset.
Now compare to 8x03:
Sam: Dean, listen, when this is over, when we close up shop on Kevin and the tablet, I'm done, I mean that.
(source: mooseandtiger.tumblr.com)
At every point in the episode when Sam's desire to stop hunting is brought up, Dean reacts with chastisement, scorn, and flat-out disbelief. His easy dismissal, so radically different from the worry and dread that previously accompanied the topic of Sam leaving, is so startling it almost distracts one from Sam's utterly disengaged mood. Dean's not outwardly worried about Sam leaving; he's vaguely irritated that Sam won't get on board, maybe hurt or confused that Sam's playing the card in the first place.
3. Dean's emotional openness. Which, juxtaposed next to everything else going on so far this season, is frankly pretty strange. But there's no ignoring:
Regarding the brothers' hug in 8x01, I've seen a couple of people note that it felt much less real than previous hugs-or even the hug that Dean shared with Benny moments before. There may be truth in that, I'm not sure. But there is no denying the giant smile and “Let's do this,” that Dean says, looking and sounding like he's been looking forward to that moment for an entire year.
Continuing the odd moments of affection, compare Dean's thoughtless:
with:
And of course:
Dean: I know where I'm at my best, and that is right here, driving down crazy street, next to you.
So, what we seem to have currently is Dean lacking not just the weariness and depression of the previous several seasons, but also that strange mix of vulnerability and emotional guardedness that has been his trademark since the beginning of the show. He appears vital and engaged, if at times callous about collateral damage. He's eager to resume his brotherly relationship but isn't connecting the way he expected to, and he seems ready to blame Sam for this.
...And here's where I start to try a make the logical leap from the old Dean to S8 Dean.
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The expressions of affection previously noted are important because throughout the series Dean has actually fluctuated a lot in terms of how he acts with Sam, both verbally and physically.
The golden years, seasons 1-3 (I'm including 3 for this specific topic despite the overwhelming angst of the episodes), Dean was pretty open and tactile. Sam's on the floor at the end of the hunt (and boy, was Sam often on the floor at the end of a hunt back then), Dean would swoop in, haul him up, maybe run his hands over his shoulders or face. You know, checking for injuries, that sort of thing. And verbally?
Well.
Rather than start quoting the bulk of the first three seasons, I'll use a secondary source. The most beautiful and spot-on characterization I've ever come across regarding Dean during this time period is from nutkin's Waiting Games. The quote is pretty accurate regardless of one's shipping affiliation:
“Dean's dug into himself deeply, become this tricky maze of raised hackles and sensitive spots that he's starkly open about. So open about, in fact, that it's like they've been worn into calluses, like they aren't even vulnerabilities anymore. He can bark out at Sam that he's the most important thing in his life, and it doesn't sound like he's admitting something private - it's just the same way he'd say, Give Satan my best, before ending a spirit. He picks and chooses the things he's embarrassed by, the things he lets become issues, and the way he feels about Sam isn't one of them.”
And this is so true, because even after this period in the show, regardless of how bad things get between the two of them, Dean never stops acknowledging the importance of the “love, family, whatever it is” that lay between the brothers. It's simply a fact.
It's also a fact, however, that the love has kind of ceased to be a support beam or redeeming light. From Season 4 until somewhat season 7, the brothers' love is still constant but wearier, more often used as a threat than a celebration. It's become a specter hanging over them, representing nothing but pretty much the only thing they have left to lose, especially after the events with Cas and Bobby last season. (This specter may have an inkling to do with whatever is going in with Sam right now.)
I don't want to go off on too big a tangent, but as an example of just how the brothers' love has been weaponized, just think about 7x02. The most insidious and upsetting parts of Hallucifer's story were the ones involving Dean specifically.
Lucifer: “You think this fruit-bat fever dream is reality? You come back, I'm sorry, with no soul like some peppy American Psycho ‘til Saint Dean glues you back together again by buying you some magic amnesia.”
This line was actually my favorite of the episode, because in pointed out that
1. Yeah, the entire story was actually pretty implausible from an outside perspective, and
2. By bringing up the “Saint Dean” part, Lucifer was able to actually inject even more doubt, because Sam knows it's just the kind of thing he could be fooled by. The entire episode unfolds along that idea, that while Sam can be reassured and supported by Dean, ultimately his most exploited vulnerabilities were also centered around the figure of his brother.
Getting back on track, so, we've got Dean and Sam through season 7, and everything's pretty grim. If I had more time, I'd love to go through and chart touches from season to season, because I'm pretty sure you'll notice a solid downwards trend as time goes on. As their circle of family and friends grew smaller, Sam and Dean seemed to become much more physically discrete, even from one another.
In season 7, when the writers remembered to, Dean was spiraling downwards.
“If you're gone, I swear I'm going to strap my Beautiful Mind brother in the car and I'm going to drive us off the pier.” - Dean, 7x02
He was drinking a lot [more], he wasn't sleeping [still], and seemed to loathe hunting.
“Don't thank us. Quit. Your daughter's 14 years old. She's already a hunter with a-a kill under her belt. I'm not trying to be a dick, but what do you think that does to her life span? She could still be a regular kid.” Dean, 7x11
“But they just seem to keep dying. To tell you the truth, I don't know why I'm doing much of anything anymore.” Dean, 7x12
Dean became obsessed with revenge on Dick Roman, and Sam had to push him along on stand-alone hunts. Now, because the writers' over-arcing plot turned out to be too thin, we saw this mostly through scenes at the beginning of filler episodes. Dean would brood and Sam would point out, as a cue I grew to dread, that while waiting for the next break with the Leviathans, they should really take this one other case. Occasionally the case would go badly and Sam would worry about Dean's questionable will to live.
Sam: You know what? Bobby was right. Your head's not in it, man. When Cas died, you were wobbly, but now.... Look... Dean, the thing is, tonight... It almost got you killed. Now, I don't care how you deal. I really, really don't. But just don't - don't get killed.
Dean: I'll do what I can.
Sam: Well, what's that supposed to mean?
Dean: It means I'll do what I can. All right? You can shut up about it.
So in the finale of Season 7, we have a Dean that is all those things he was before-depressed, tired, sick of hunting except for the drive to revenge Bobby, and possibly suicidal. This is who Sam saw disappear.
Then Dean is back. He's not suicidal-he just spent a year fighting for his life. He's engaged, ready to hunt. And the best part? They're on the offense for once, which relieves a certain bit of the pressure that had been on before. This is as close to free as they've been for 7 or however many years.
From Dean's perspective, when he disappeared, his brother was committed to the hunt. Had been adamant about it for several years, in fact, and not even in an angsty way. It was Sam who kept shoving him along onto other cases, distracting him from going crazy over Dick Roman, and begging him not to die.
It's no surprise that Dean returns expecting to just instantly click again with Sam. He probably thought about it a lot during the mundane terror that was Purgatory. So when he doesn't click-when he returns and hears Sam repeat the same tired crap that Dean has finally shaken off-well, you get a delayed reaction of sorts. There's the initial fury and surprise that Sam abandoned the hunt and Kevin, sure. By 8x03, he still won't recognize that the connection he's waiting for may not happen, but his patience is obviously thin.
Consider this exchange in Season 2's episode “Heart”:
Sam: Dean, could you be a bigger geek about this?
Dean: I’m sorry, man, but what about “a human by day, a freak animal killing machine by moonlight” don’t you understand? I mean, werewolves are badass. We haven’t seen one since we were kids.
Sam: Okay, Sparky. And you know what? After we kill it, we can go to Disneyland.
And then... 8x03:
Dean: Two hearts ganked, same city, six months apart, I mean, that's gotta be a ritual man... or at least some sort of heart-sucking, possessed satanic crack-whore bat.
Sam: What?
So yeah, Dean's disappointed. It's not really a surprise that he's so impatient with Sam, who even at the peak of his Lucifer-psychic-break was more engaged than he appears to be currently. This is not who he was expecting to come back to.
Which, let's be honest, is depressing. I think I remember reading an interview with Robert Singer somewhere that said this season was supposed to be less angst-ridden in the past. At the time I thought it meant we'd get to see the boys actually enjoy hunting again once in a while. Now I'm not so sure-but then again, we haven't seen Sam's perspective reveal yet.
But we've got the first step, people! Dean's back. He's acting like a dick, because that's kind of what he's like when he's not tempered by Sam, but he enjoys hunting again.
Note:
Why yes... I ignored the very interesting and very relevant PTSD side of things (for both Dean and Sam). I ran out of space/steam and chose not to focus on it. It's fascinating to think about though, and several great posts have been made recently about it. I highly recommend checking them out.