Supernatural 4.14 "Sex and Violence" Review
Hey, guys. Sorry it took me so long to review, but there was a lot to chew on! My thoughts kept chasing each other and I needed some time to draw some conclusions.
I am going to say, though, that this episode is the first in quite a while that has actually sort of restored faith. Somewhat. It felt like…I want to say like last season, but it really had elements of all of the seasons mixed in. It didn’t knock Folsom out of its spot as my favorite for the series, but it’s definitely in the top three. Or five. I don’t know, I’d have to list them all out again. (kandkl , remember when we did that? It’s been two seasons; we might be due.)
Anyone who is involved in any part of the fandom knows that a lot of people have a lot of opinions about the fight and about what was said. There’s a definite rift in the camp…but a lot of talking in circles. I have yet to see any of the hostility that usually accompanies these types of things; it seems like for once, the general fan base might actually feel caught in the middle or empathetic to both boys. What a perfect way for Kripke to leave us hanging for a few weeks! There’s discussion and debate without the usual declarations of “Dean girl” and “Sam girl”. It’s nice.
I didn’t have a problem with the way the episode was shot or lit hardly at all. In fact, it felt sort of reminiscent of FPB to me. The only thing that I wish would stop is the overhead shots. They make me feel nauseous, seriously.
There was a lot of green in this episode. I’m convinced that they used a blue or green filter or something while shooting; I don’t know the exact terminology, but I know that horror movies like The Ring have used blue-tinted lenses or something along those lines. I don’t think it was the lighting, because it would have affected all of the colors, and we certainly saw some vibrant blue and heavy red as well. If you happen to watch the episode again, check out the scenes in the interrogation room and the hotel room. The cement between the bricks isn’t a pure or even dingy white but rather has more of a yellowish green tint to it, and in the hotel room, Sam’s suit has a definite green tint to it (which, maybe he could have been wearing a green suit…but I really doubt it). We stop seeing the green once Bobby shows up in the hallway of the hotel, and it is definitely gone once the boys are outside by the (?) bridge, where we are left with Ring-like blues again.
Any color can of course have dual meanings, symbolically speaking. Green certainly has its positive associations, but Supernatural is what it is, so I’m going to go with the negative aspects on this one. Jealousy, greed, illness…those are all pretty obvious, I would think, but let’s just say green classically tends to mean nothing great. I know that certain European countries used green to ward off the devil, but since there was an astounding lack of yellow in this episode, I would guess we could ignore that idea for the time being. In more modern literature and other media, though, I’ve noticed a trend where green means honesty or authenticity, and I kind of love that idea when applied to SAV. I noticed the green “tint” starting in the interrogation room and through until Bobby’s appearance. We could say that the opening and closing scenes were, in turn, dishonest, in that the boys were clearly not being honest with each other. Everything involving the siren, though, was sincere. The siren showed what each person wanted most…and it could be argued that in his solo scenes, Sam was being true to himself for one of the first times since Dean’s return from Hell.
Enough of that. The only other little comment I have to make is that I really liked Sam in that shirt in the beginning. :D
Onward. The only major theme of the episode that really became clear to me was identity and its evolution. I’m going to start with Sam, since he was sort of the focus of the episode in this sense.
Let’s be honest. We’ve noticed Sam’s…independence…since the beginning of the season. Actually, no; we’ve been noticing it since Mystery Spot. So really, none of Sam’s actions or behaviors or even harsh words shocked me all that much. This has been coming for a while. The difference between this season and last, however, is the change in his identity, specifically in relation to his dynamic with Dean.
I come prepared with proof! Although I know we’re a fairly sharp bunch and most of this will probably be really redundant, so bear with me.
-Sam uses verbal and body languages that are more suited to the older person of a dynamic (namely, Dean). In the first hotel room, Sam says “kiddo”.* In their first meeting with the siren, Sam puts his hand on Dean’s shoulder to lead him away, and he keeps his hand there for quite a while as he talks Dean into his plan. In the past, we saw Sam take the lead in Yellow Fever; the shift in dynamic is most obvious when he, Dean and Bobby are talking outside at the end of the episode and Sam is teasing Dean with Bobby. This is a Sam who has experienced life without Dean (but in a much different way than he did when he was without Dean at Stanford) and probably has been at odds with himself this whole time as to who he really is. This is a Sam who is pushing his “new” identity and testing the boundaries within the dynamic he has with his brother; unfortunately, he’s doing so at completely the wrong time (more on that later, in Dean’s section).
-The shy, unassuming Sam we used to see with girls is apparently no more. He was flirting with the lady doctor as soon as he opened that door. Later, he was sitting on her desk…you don’t do that if you are at all unsure of yourself.
We get to the fight, and this is where I feel like I’m walking in aimless circles. I’ll try to be succinct.
Sam has not convinced himself that he is doing the right thing with his demonic powers. I think that going after Lilith is what he wants to do, but he feels guilty, for a lot of obvious reasons. His lashing out at Dean was a product of that guilt, as well as his frustration with this shifting identity in their dynamic. Sam’s got his big brother back, only he doesn’t. And he’d changed out of necessity once Dean died, and now he doesn’t really know who he wants to be, little angsty brother or independent stubborn man. If that makes any sense at all.
All of the crap about being a better hunter and about Dean holding him back? That is the kind of stuff that people tell themselves over and over when they’re trying to look past their own guilt. Think back to a fight you’ve had with someone else; I’m sure you can find an example of you or them doing the same thing and lashing out where you or they know it will hurt, just to avoid dealing with yourself or themselves.
Now, to talk about Dean a little. Kripke told us from the beginning that Dean wasn’t going to be the same person when he came back from Hell, and we’ve really seen that come to light in the last four to six episodes as Dean has started to talk about his experience.
It’s all just bad timing, really. Sam is different, so Dean’s unsure of his role in the dynamic as the older sibling, so he’s thrown off. And Sam is thrown off because his usual big brother isn’t there…but in some ways that’s what Sam wants (or thinks he wants). And Dean is opening up (because Sam kept asking him to) and hoping for the same Sam that was there for him in season two, but Sam is different. See? A big circle.
So when Sam said that he was a better hunter than Dean and that Dean was holding him back, he dealt a huge blow to Dean’s sense of identity, or what semblance of it he still had. When he said that crap, I actually recoiled, not in offense but in something close to anger, because I can imagine how I would react if someone who knew me inside and out did that to me. I’d be hurt, sure…but they would go down. Hard.
And Sam did go down. Hard. The older sibling in me cheered a little when Dean totally took him out and Sam looked so astounded.
All in all, I think that both boys said the things they both needed to say to each other. I just don’t think that they would have done it in that violent or explosive a way if they hadn’t been under the siren’s influence. Honestly, I don’t know if Sam ever would have said anything to Dean on his own. In a sense, it’s probably a good thing that Dean knows.
But. At the end of the episode, Sam asks Dean if they’re okay, and Dean says yes. And like that, we see both of them trying to reestablish their old identities…but it won’t work. It’s too late. And I’m nervous that the fight was just a huge foreshadowing of what’s to come, because it just seems so inevitable that the brothers are going to come to some pretty serious blows over this issue of demons and angels.
How many times have we seen Sam say or do something honest while under the influence of some monster-of-the-week? He always comes out of it and says he didn’t mean it and asks if he and Dean are fine. No way in hell they are fine after this one. And who the hell does Sam think he is? Has he forgotten about Castiel? No, no…has he forgotten about Uriel? That angel will kick his little demon-blood ass. If you ask me, Sam needs a reminder of the big picture, and soon. Castiel needs to visit in the very near future.
I think I need to wrap this up, though I have more thoughts: I can see clearly now that Sam is John, based off of his ridiculous, all-consuming need to get Lilith. But this post is already far too long, so I’ll save it for some other time.
My concluding thoughts are that Sam needs an ass-whooping and a reminder of what’s going on around him and who he’s up against (both Lilith and God), and Dean is going to snap out of this stupor he’s in and come back all angsty and snappy in the next episode. I love Dean, but I am tired of hearing about Hell (but not in the same way that Sam is tired of hearing about it). And I think that Dean is going to completely separate himself from Sam, mentally if not physically.
If you read all of that, you are amazing.
~mirandler
*I have to disclaim myself here. I know that saying "kiddo" can be used in not-so-literal ways; when I'm with a group of people who are older than me, I'll often refer to them as "kids" to get a laugh. I understand that this might have been what the writers were going for in this scene, but regardless, it points to what's going on in Sam's subconscious.