Meta Meta and Recs
There's nothing I love more than when Show makes fandom explode with wonderful thinky meta, and this Season has done just that. Here are my favourites so far -and as always with meta, when you read the posts here, make sure you check out the comments for some great discussions.
Mirrors
I have written before about how mirroring is such a motif of Supernatural. It often uses repeated visual cues to remind us of past episodes either to point out similarities to a current situation or perhaps to contrast the way characters reacted now and then, showing a reversal of positions. I think it’s a hallmark of the visual sophistication of the show, that there things are often conveyed purely through images.
I particularly was reminded in the Season premiere of the fight between Sam and Dean in the Pilot when Sam finds Dean in his apartment. It is mirrored in What Is and What Should Never Be, and again here. In each case Sam is out of hunting, he comes to Dean from his girlfriends bed, they wrestle and reunite. In each case Dean overpowers Sam. However in the first two, it is Dean intruding, bringing the hunting world to Sam's normal life. Here, it is Sam leaving normal, and returning to hunting - figuratively at first in going back to Rufus' cabin and then literally.
astarloa in Through The Looking Glass and ash48 in her meta each compares scenes from "We need to talk about Kevin" with those from past episodes to look at Sam and Dean's character arcs.
Sam and Dean
There has been so much character material in the first three episodes alone - not to mention brother dynamics. I suspect given the unfolding backstory of the last year for both the boys, there will be much more juicy material to pour over in episodes to come. Both these insightful metas take a detailed look at how Sam and Dean's current actions are contextualised by in terms of their history.
• 'Not Normal. Safe.' - Why S8!Sam Makes Sense in Context of his History & in Relation to Dean by <;lj user="zimsham">
• An attempt to reconcile Dean's current characterization as growth rather than lazy-writing reversion by fortywinks
And finally this week "Heartache" used the main storyline to parallel Sam and Dean's relationship. For me the standout line was a metaphor for Sam:" He wasn't just the warrior who's only reason for living was combat".
These two essays looked more deeply at this and what it may tell us about the boys: this one by maraceles and also in this post by blackcat333-99
I would love to know any other insightful; posts you've read!
Mirrors
I have written before about how mirroring is such a motif of Supernatural. It often uses repeated visual cues to remind us of past episodes either to point out similarities to a current situation or perhaps to contrast the way characters reacted now and then, showing a reversal of positions. I think it’s a hallmark of the visual sophistication of the show, that there things are often conveyed purely through images.
I particularly was reminded in the Season premiere of the fight between Sam and Dean in the Pilot when Sam finds Dean in his apartment. It is mirrored in What Is and What Should Never Be, and again here. In each case Sam is out of hunting, he comes to Dean from his girlfriends bed, they wrestle and reunite. In each case Dean overpowers Sam. However in the first two, it is Dean intruding, bringing the hunting world to Sam's normal life. Here, it is Sam leaving normal, and returning to hunting - figuratively at first in going back to Rufus' cabin and then literally.
astarloa in Through The Looking Glass and ash48 in her meta each compares scenes from "We need to talk about Kevin" with those from past episodes to look at Sam and Dean's character arcs.
Sam and Dean
There has been so much character material in the first three episodes alone - not to mention brother dynamics. I suspect given the unfolding backstory of the last year for both the boys, there will be much more juicy material to pour over in episodes to come. Both these insightful metas take a detailed look at how Sam and Dean's current actions are contextualised by in terms of their history.
• 'Not Normal. Safe.' - Why S8!Sam Makes Sense in Context of his History & in Relation to Dean by <;lj user="zimsham">
• An attempt to reconcile Dean's current characterization as growth rather than lazy-writing reversion by fortywinks
And finally this week "Heartache" used the main storyline to parallel Sam and Dean's relationship. For me the standout line was a metaphor for Sam:" He wasn't just the warrior who's only reason for living was combat".
These two essays looked more deeply at this and what it may tell us about the boys: this one by maraceles and also in this post by blackcat333-99
I would love to know any other insightful; posts you've read!