Meta - Repeated Language
One of the things I love about our show is its use of language. Very deliberate choices are made with certain words and phrases.
Throughout the show’s run, we’ve heard a lot of repeated language. Phrases pop up that one character says and another character says later under different circumstances. This happened with the most frequency during seasons one and two, but has come roaring back in our faces here at the end of season 4.
Dean uses a lot of language that we can infer he has picked up from John because those particular phrases are not something a brother would say, but what a father would say to a child. In Scarecrow and Provenance Dean says “That’s my boy!” when Sam does something that makes Dean proud (stealing a car, going back to kiss Sarah). In both circumstances, Dean says “That’s my boy!” with affection and pride; again, this implies that since he uses the phrase in that way, that is the way he heard John use it. John would’ve used the phrase “That’s my boy!” enough times for Dean to pick up on it and make it become part of Dean’s lexicon.
Another repeated phrase, also showing affection is “kiddo”. We mostly hear “kiddo” being used by John and Dean in relation to Sam,. This phrase strikes me as an unconscious way to underscore and reinforce Sam’s diminutive station in the family - he is the youngest and often treated as a juvenile member of the team long past the time when it is appropriate. However, I don’t see “kiddo” as a put down; the times it has been used has been with fondness because it’s kind of a sweet nickname.
Then we get to Season 4 and certain phrases pop up again. It is interesting to me that twice in season 4, once in Lazarus Rising and now in When the Levee Breaks, when speaking to Bobby about Sam Dean refers to him as “kid”. In both cases, Sam is nowhere to be found, but Dean “knows that kid better than anyone” and is confident he can track Sam down. I think it’s important that Dean uses “kid” for two reasons - using “kid” instead of “Sam” creates a distance between the two characters. Dean could be a police officer or detective looking for a lost “kid”. “Kid” again has the juvenile implication, though it doesn’t have the sense of fondness that “kiddo” has. It also takes on that parent overtone, showing a sense of frustration.
Then we get to the final confrontation in the Honeymoon Suite in When the Levee Breaks. I thought it was fascinating that while Dean will often use words he has picked up from John, Sam falls back on his own words. Throughout the confrontation, Sam repeats phrases from the conversations with his hallucinations - young Sam, Mary and hallucination!Dean are all represented in the things Sam says to Dean to try to make him understand Sam’s choices. Then Dean says the one thing that Sam just can’t hear. Sam hears, from real-live Dean the words he dreads and fears - Dean calls him a monster.
Sam throws the first punch.
Interesting to note that when the boys have had physical confrontations before it’s Dean who’s thrown the first punch.
The boys get into a physical fight - a throw down, breaking furniture, no-holds-barred fight. Dean is feeling the culmination of this year of frustration. He gets back from Hell and Sam’s being weird and evasive. Sam’s keeping secrets and no matter how hard Dean presses him on it, Sam won’t give up what he’s hiding. They’ve been fighting and at odds - Sam wants to hunt and face Lilith; Dean wants to hide and keep Sam safe. Sam is stubborn and oppositional at every turn, and Dean finally finds himself in a place very similar to where John was when he was fighting with Sam about Stanford.
Sam had been vocally trying to create distance for at least a year, maybe two, before he left. He was angry, aggressive, stubborn and oppositional. It’s pretty clear from their fight in Salvation that Sam was used to getting up in John’s face when they were arguing - his height, even at 16 or 17 would have allowed him to go toe to toe with John and diminish John’s physical height advantage. [Side note - I do believe though, that no matter how much they argued, John never physically went after Sam. Dean would not have been able to remain neutral, and from Dean’s behavior in Salvation he was neutral; physically separating John and Sam and sending them to their respective corners.]
So after a year or two of wrangling, Sam’s secret application and acceptance to Stanford come out. Sam declares he’s leaving and John utters the immortal words of parents who have been pushed to the breaking point; words that are the last straw, a final gasp at exerting control over a situation that has already, and unknown to him, slipped out of his fingers. “If you walk out that door, don’t you ever come back.” In the heat of the moment, was it true? Probably. And we know that Sam took what was said to heart. But we know from John’s behavior he regretted those words
Flash forward to the fight. Dean ends up winded on the floor. Sam very deliberately crosses to him and nearly chokes the life out of him. Sam very easily could have killed Dean, and I think that’s what that moment was about. Sam is in control, Sam has the power of life and death and not even Dean is immune to it.
When Sam releases Dean and stands up he throws these words in his face: “You don’t know me. You never did. And you never will” [Negating Dean’s claims to “know that kid”.]
And Dean, pushed to the place where he no longer has words of his own replies: “You walk out that door, don’t you ever come back.”
In the heat of the moment, does Dean believe these words? I think he does. Sam does too. He’s been down this road before. He was on his own at Stanford; he was on his own before Dean was returned from Hell. At this point, he is no longer on his own, since he’s chosen Ruby and what she can give him over Dean.
But, I think Dean’s words represent more than the parental frustration John was feeling. They’ve crossed a line here. Sam pushed and Dean admitted that if Sam moves forward with his plan, he’s a monster. I think Dean’s words imply more than “don’t come back, I won’t be here for you”. I think Dean’s saying “don’t come back because if you do I’ll have to kill you. I will have to hunt you. And I’ll win.”
Damn, I just don’t see how they’re coming back from this.
Throughout the show’s run, we’ve heard a lot of repeated language. Phrases pop up that one character says and another character says later under different circumstances. This happened with the most frequency during seasons one and two, but has come roaring back in our faces here at the end of season 4.
Dean uses a lot of language that we can infer he has picked up from John because those particular phrases are not something a brother would say, but what a father would say to a child. In Scarecrow and Provenance Dean says “That’s my boy!” when Sam does something that makes Dean proud (stealing a car, going back to kiss Sarah). In both circumstances, Dean says “That’s my boy!” with affection and pride; again, this implies that since he uses the phrase in that way, that is the way he heard John use it. John would’ve used the phrase “That’s my boy!” enough times for Dean to pick up on it and make it become part of Dean’s lexicon.
Another repeated phrase, also showing affection is “kiddo”. We mostly hear “kiddo” being used by John and Dean in relation to Sam,. This phrase strikes me as an unconscious way to underscore and reinforce Sam’s diminutive station in the family - he is the youngest and often treated as a juvenile member of the team long past the time when it is appropriate. However, I don’t see “kiddo” as a put down; the times it has been used has been with fondness because it’s kind of a sweet nickname.
Then we get to Season 4 and certain phrases pop up again. It is interesting to me that twice in season 4, once in Lazarus Rising and now in When the Levee Breaks, when speaking to Bobby about Sam Dean refers to him as “kid”. In both cases, Sam is nowhere to be found, but Dean “knows that kid better than anyone” and is confident he can track Sam down. I think it’s important that Dean uses “kid” for two reasons - using “kid” instead of “Sam” creates a distance between the two characters. Dean could be a police officer or detective looking for a lost “kid”. “Kid” again has the juvenile implication, though it doesn’t have the sense of fondness that “kiddo” has. It also takes on that parent overtone, showing a sense of frustration.
Then we get to the final confrontation in the Honeymoon Suite in When the Levee Breaks. I thought it was fascinating that while Dean will often use words he has picked up from John, Sam falls back on his own words. Throughout the confrontation, Sam repeats phrases from the conversations with his hallucinations - young Sam, Mary and hallucination!Dean are all represented in the things Sam says to Dean to try to make him understand Sam’s choices. Then Dean says the one thing that Sam just can’t hear. Sam hears, from real-live Dean the words he dreads and fears - Dean calls him a monster.
Sam throws the first punch.
Interesting to note that when the boys have had physical confrontations before it’s Dean who’s thrown the first punch.
The boys get into a physical fight - a throw down, breaking furniture, no-holds-barred fight. Dean is feeling the culmination of this year of frustration. He gets back from Hell and Sam’s being weird and evasive. Sam’s keeping secrets and no matter how hard Dean presses him on it, Sam won’t give up what he’s hiding. They’ve been fighting and at odds - Sam wants to hunt and face Lilith; Dean wants to hide and keep Sam safe. Sam is stubborn and oppositional at every turn, and Dean finally finds himself in a place very similar to where John was when he was fighting with Sam about Stanford.
Sam had been vocally trying to create distance for at least a year, maybe two, before he left. He was angry, aggressive, stubborn and oppositional. It’s pretty clear from their fight in Salvation that Sam was used to getting up in John’s face when they were arguing - his height, even at 16 or 17 would have allowed him to go toe to toe with John and diminish John’s physical height advantage. [Side note - I do believe though, that no matter how much they argued, John never physically went after Sam. Dean would not have been able to remain neutral, and from Dean’s behavior in Salvation he was neutral; physically separating John and Sam and sending them to their respective corners.]
So after a year or two of wrangling, Sam’s secret application and acceptance to Stanford come out. Sam declares he’s leaving and John utters the immortal words of parents who have been pushed to the breaking point; words that are the last straw, a final gasp at exerting control over a situation that has already, and unknown to him, slipped out of his fingers. “If you walk out that door, don’t you ever come back.” In the heat of the moment, was it true? Probably. And we know that Sam took what was said to heart. But we know from John’s behavior he regretted those words
Flash forward to the fight. Dean ends up winded on the floor. Sam very deliberately crosses to him and nearly chokes the life out of him. Sam very easily could have killed Dean, and I think that’s what that moment was about. Sam is in control, Sam has the power of life and death and not even Dean is immune to it.
When Sam releases Dean and stands up he throws these words in his face: “You don’t know me. You never did. And you never will” [Negating Dean’s claims to “know that kid”.]
And Dean, pushed to the place where he no longer has words of his own replies: “You walk out that door, don’t you ever come back.”
In the heat of the moment, does Dean believe these words? I think he does. Sam does too. He’s been down this road before. He was on his own at Stanford; he was on his own before Dean was returned from Hell. At this point, he is no longer on his own, since he’s chosen Ruby and what she can give him over Dean.
But, I think Dean’s words represent more than the parental frustration John was feeling. They’ve crossed a line here. Sam pushed and Dean admitted that if Sam moves forward with his plan, he’s a monster. I think Dean’s words imply more than “don’t come back, I won’t be here for you”. I think Dean’s saying “don’t come back because if you do I’ll have to kill you. I will have to hunt you. And I’ll win.”
Damn, I just don’t see how they’re coming back from this.