trinityofone (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
trinityofone) wrote2009-09-18 11:30 am
trinityofone) wrote2009-09-18 11:30 am
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Put away childish things
Rather than analyze to death the wonderful hospital scene, which I think other people have already discussed ably, I wanted to talk a little about Dean and the movement we're already beginning to see away from him being "the guy who drives the car," as Ben Edlund put it. While for Sam much of this episode was about the first step being admitting you have a problem, for Dean I think it was the first step toward becoming a leader and not just a follower, the good little soldier taking orders.
Part of that was nicely bookended by the opening and closing scenes: in the first, Dean is asked to give up his necklace to aid in the cause, and in the last, he offers to give up the Impala. These are almost inarguably his two most valued possessions—possibly his only two constant things, with the third maybe being his dad's leather jacket (which he notably was not wearing in this episode). At the episode's start, he has to be persuaded to give up one of these symbolic objects—which he does only with a nicely petulant and immature "Don't lose it!" By the end he's offering the other—and the much more practically useful of the two—freely. Part of which can be attributed to who's doing the asking, and part to the fact that I think Dean had to know Sam was unlikely to say yes, but I do think it shows a growth. It's not that Dean's cutting ties, but that he's learning or relearning the importance of things.
What else was Dean required to give up in this episode? Well, obviously: Sam. Now, I don't think Dean can or will or should ever give up his brother for good (he wouldn't be Dean anymore if he did), but starting from the scene in the church basement where we see Dean choosing—for the first time?—not to go off running half-cocked when Sam is in trouble but staying to come up with a plan, I think we have the beginnings of Dean-the-leader, who has to consider other people's safety—the safety of the world—above that of his brother. Hopefully we will subsequently also get Dean able to recognize that Sam can (usually) take care of himself. This separation seems very necessary to me in order to get them back on even ground again: last season, Sam thought Dean wasn't strong enough anymore, and Dean thinks Sam isn't trustworthy anymore. These doubts reflect their own inner doubts. They both have a lot to prove, to themselves and to each other.
Meanwhile, Dean is without his usual support structure—as he says, his instinct when faced with an "intellectual" problem is to call Bobby or Sam. But no one underestimates Dean's intelligence more than Dean, and as we saw, with Ellen there to smack him around a bit (please can she be around to do that all the time?), he was totally capable of figuring this out on his own. (Yes, Rufus, really!) So while Dean should never have to give up his resources—Sam and Bobby and Ellen and Cas and everybody else—he does need to give up his dependence on them.
After watching 5x01 many (many) times, I finally came up with an explanation for the whole "Michael sword" thing that satisfied me—beyond Zachariah just being a lying douche. And that's that he's a narrow-minded oblivious douche. I spoke here about how Zachariah's actions in priming Dean did not make sense to me, from Zachariah's perspective, if he always thought that Dean's sole role was as a meatsuit. I'm much more taken by the idea that the prophecy that Dean will be the one to stop Lucifer is real, but that Zachariah, after getting to know Dean and clearly failing to appreciate his many charms, came up with the Michael thing because in his mind it's the only plausible explanation. Dean as Dean can't possibly stop Lucifer, thinks Zachariah. He's disrespectful! He's a simpering wad of insecurity and self-loathing! So obviously Michael's going to have to jump in there (literally) and solve this problem that oh-so-human Dean clearly can't.
I am really looking forward to Dean proving Zachariah wrong. And I think we saw the first steps toward that in this episode.
Part of that was nicely bookended by the opening and closing scenes: in the first, Dean is asked to give up his necklace to aid in the cause, and in the last, he offers to give up the Impala. These are almost inarguably his two most valued possessions—possibly his only two constant things, with the third maybe being his dad's leather jacket (which he notably was not wearing in this episode). At the episode's start, he has to be persuaded to give up one of these symbolic objects—which he does only with a nicely petulant and immature "Don't lose it!" By the end he's offering the other—and the much more practically useful of the two—freely. Part of which can be attributed to who's doing the asking, and part to the fact that I think Dean had to know Sam was unlikely to say yes, but I do think it shows a growth. It's not that Dean's cutting ties, but that he's learning or relearning the importance of things.
What else was Dean required to give up in this episode? Well, obviously: Sam. Now, I don't think Dean can or will or should ever give up his brother for good (he wouldn't be Dean anymore if he did), but starting from the scene in the church basement where we see Dean choosing—for the first time?—not to go off running half-cocked when Sam is in trouble but staying to come up with a plan, I think we have the beginnings of Dean-the-leader, who has to consider other people's safety—the safety of the world—above that of his brother. Hopefully we will subsequently also get Dean able to recognize that Sam can (usually) take care of himself. This separation seems very necessary to me in order to get them back on even ground again: last season, Sam thought Dean wasn't strong enough anymore, and Dean thinks Sam isn't trustworthy anymore. These doubts reflect their own inner doubts. They both have a lot to prove, to themselves and to each other.
Meanwhile, Dean is without his usual support structure—as he says, his instinct when faced with an "intellectual" problem is to call Bobby or Sam. But no one underestimates Dean's intelligence more than Dean, and as we saw, with Ellen there to smack him around a bit (please can she be around to do that all the time?), he was totally capable of figuring this out on his own. (Yes, Rufus, really!) So while Dean should never have to give up his resources—Sam and Bobby and Ellen and Cas and everybody else—he does need to give up his dependence on them.
After watching 5x01 many (many) times, I finally came up with an explanation for the whole "Michael sword" thing that satisfied me—beyond Zachariah just being a lying douche. And that's that he's a narrow-minded oblivious douche. I spoke here about how Zachariah's actions in priming Dean did not make sense to me, from Zachariah's perspective, if he always thought that Dean's sole role was as a meatsuit. I'm much more taken by the idea that the prophecy that Dean will be the one to stop Lucifer is real, but that Zachariah, after getting to know Dean and clearly failing to appreciate his many charms, came up with the Michael thing because in his mind it's the only plausible explanation. Dean as Dean can't possibly stop Lucifer, thinks Zachariah. He's disrespectful! He's a simpering wad of insecurity and self-loathing! So obviously Michael's going to have to jump in there (literally) and solve this problem that oh-so-human Dean clearly can't.
I am really looking forward to Dean proving Zachariah wrong. And I think we saw the first steps toward that in this episode.
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Then I can start going around my neighborhood asking if they've heard the good news and passing out copies of the Winchester Gospel. ;-)
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Hee! Probably will be more effective than the Watchtower with lots of people.
I think Heroic is Dean is massively hot.
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(I should clarify: I think Zachariah is an awesome villain, and Kurt Fuller is rocking that performance. He's so delightfully smug, though, that I am made way too gleeful at the thought of the rug being ripped out from under him.)
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Yes! And Dean reinforces that, I think, when he says to Sam (at the end) that on hunts these days he spends more time worrying about Sam than about either himself or the immediate situation. That speaks to the erosion of his trust in Sam--because Sam's always been there to watch his back--but also to his new awareness, as you say, that there's a much bigger picture and he has responsibilities in it. Oddly, that sounds almost angel-ish to me (minus the mostly-irredeemable douchiness), learning how to rethink attachment to people and things when the world demands it.
I also agree with you on Zachariah's complete misreading of Dean--it's not only accurate, but ties in very nicely with my desire to see Dean be able to defeat Lucifer on his own. We might have had this conversation before, but it seems like the theme of Dean's life has been to give and give and give--his life, his soul, and now his amulet and his car--and I would love to see him defeat Lucifer without sacrificing himself, his essential Dean-ness.
Your post actually got me thinking about the possibility that Dean and Sam taking War's ring might bring up another way to defeat Lucifer. It's still way too early to tell, but robbing War of his power... that seems pretty big. If they can do that, maybe there's another step toward Dean being able to stop is, sans Michael, sans God.
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I think the ring itself might be significant. That we might see them collecting objects of power from each of the horsemen, and using those in some way. I like this idea because it's got that old-fashioned questy element to it, and I love me some quests.
Also, you know Dean could always use some more bling, so. *g*
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OH GOD. That idea is fantastic. And could be handled wonderfully, as long as it strays from the twee /the power was in you the whole time/ kind of thing. But yes, I'd love that idea.
Nice comments on the s4/5 parallels too.
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I *really* like the idea of Zachariah misjudging Dean and jumping to the conclusion that he can only be Michael's sword. And btw, Zach's -hopefully- wrong assumption about him is, in essence, very "angelic" in that angels tend to think in terms of missions to accomplish: much like demons, the way they reach their goals doesn't really count so if they have to use humans, so be it. Aside from Anna and Cas, angels also think of humans as lowly-beings so of course they can only be tools. So we've got angels' natural arrogance + Zach's douchiness = Dean is Michael's vessel... except he is not! Hee, lol! Gosh, I really hope TPTB go down that road! *crosses fingers*
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I think the transformation may have started in "Lucifer Rising" when Dean forces Castiel to make a choice. That whole exchange with Castiel struck me as Dean starting to make the turn toward leader as he needed to be someone Castiel would follow.
This episode, though, as you describe is the first shining example of Dean being a leader. Yeah, I like your ideas.
I do like your interpretation of Zach, too. I've been puzzling that one as well as I can't buy that Dean really is a vessel.
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Even Ellen, that isn't a character I love much, suddenly gains a whole new meaning for me. And you are totally right, in that scene she helped him think with his own head, and he obviously reached the right conclusion!
It made me think of those times when Sam looks down on Dean a little (always playfully, ok, but considering how insecure Dean is...), all surprised that Dean read something Sam wasn't expecting him to :P
Little brothers are really a pain in the ass, speaking from experience.
The symbolism about the amulet AND the Impala, you got that so well. I look forward SO MUCH to these upcoming episodes you have no idea.
PS: I'm really not stalking you, I stumbled here in hope you had written fic :P But I guess your reviews are as good as one. ♥