Same song, seventh verse; 4.21 compared to select previous episodes of Supernatural

[isaacsapphire]

I’m unspoiled for the finale beyond the trailer, so this is all very unfounded speculation, but bear with me as I pop into the time machine.

Supernatural also has a strong tendency to repeat itself over and over again. Sam calls Dean bossy, Dean insists it’s his way or the highway. Sam says that Dean doesn’t know him. But the very fact that Dean is *there* clearly shows that he does know Sam.

Let’s compare this with a few other fights the boys have had, shall we?

The Pilot – not knowing who the opponent is, testing, ending with the revealing of identity and the passing of that test as the resolution of that altercation.

Testing? Yes, definitely. Sam’s lost confidence in Dean’s abilities, while Dean has lost confidence in Sam’s intentions. Uncertain identity? The boys don’t know anymore who they are or who the other is and that’s what this fight was about.

Skin – Not!Dean and Sam have it out, complete with wanton destruction of innocent furniture. Not!Dean kicks Sam’s ass (and mentions that he always has) and is strangling him when Real!Dean shoots him.

Hm, strangling. Interesting mirroring there.

Asylum – Sam literally lost control of himself, but Dean knew Sam and knew the situation, anticipated it (by unloading the gun upstairs) and gave him an unloaded gun, then provoked him, forcing him to act and so regaining control of the situation.

There’s no way that Dean wasn’t intending to provoke Sam by calling him a monster (which has been Sammy’s hot-button since he was small) and there’s no way that Dean didn’t know exactly what repeating John’s most hurtful words would do to Sam and cause him to do, so I can only conclude that he fully intended what he did and intended to get the outcome that he did.

Born Under a Bad Sign – Not!Sam punches out Dean, then leaves him lying on the hotel floor. However, Dean knows Sam, knows that this isn’t Sam and so combats Not!Sam in proper ways, although he is initially defeated. Note the dock theme here too.

Again with the mirroring, in this case Sam leaving Dean injured on the hotel floor. But again, Dean knows Sam very very well.

Tall Tales – Immediately after BUABS, the boys are bickering, annoying each other, but ultimately still a team. A team that fakes out the opponent by pretending to be fractured.

Maybe, just maybe, that fight was for the edification of the watchers and not real. Hell, if Dean’s own head isn’t a secure place, most likely nowhere is. They’re being watched and they know it. I’m surprised that no one’s suggested this theory yet.

Sex and Violence – When the boys were set on each other by the siren (verbally, the fight was over the exact same issues as always), Dean kicked Sam’s ass and was about to kill him with a fire ax when Bobby showed up.

Every single time they’ve come to blows Dean’s ended up on top by skill or trickery (Not!Sam excepted). So why’d he loose this fight?

One last episode for comparison, not a fight: Nightmare. At the end, Sam expresses fear that he’ll become evil like Max, who turned on his family and killed them, and Dean says that he’s certain Sam won’t. Sam asks why and Dean answers that Sam has Dean. Dean places his own aid and companionship between Sam and whatever evil tendencies he may have right there.

And Dean just took that away. Dean had explicitly placed himself as the barrier between Sam and evil!Sam and he just destroyed that. Incidentally, this interpretation also fits very well with the episode title.

And incidentally the only place I can think of hearing before of an angel letting someone out of their bonds like that is in the Biblical book of Acts, where an angel releases Peter from prison, where his two guards are sleeping ( Acts 12:5-11).

So, um, yeah. That’s that. Tell me what you think; good, bad, indifferent?

Comments

[ginzai.livejournal.com]

Interesting spec. A couple of point of contention though...:

There’s no way that Dean wasn’t intending to provoke Sam by calling him a monster (which has been Sammy’s hot-button since he was small) and there’s no way that Dean didn’t know exactly what repeating John’s most hurtful words would do to Sam and cause him to do, so I can only conclude that he fully intended what he did and intended to get the outcome that he did.

I thought the episode made it pretty clear that Dean didn't know the hornet's nest he was poking by calling Sam a "monster". He doesn't know about Sam's hallucinations, nor about the implications from not!Dean (if Sam is a monster, it means that Dean doesn't love him, doesn't believe in him, doesn't think they're brothers, doesn't even think they're members of the same species, et cetera) that are what have Sam so very much on edge.

"Monster" and themes of monstrous creatures have been a sore spot for Sam, but if it goes back to when they were kids, I'd argue that previously it was with Dean self-identifying (as you mention) as a freak and Sam rejecting the same. The implications here (and to a lesser extent, this whole season) are different.

The other thing is that I can't see any signs that Dean wanted to fight Sam. Might have thought it necessary and been prepared for it, but that's different than wanting or picking a fight. I definitely don't think he wanted to lose like that, nor do I think Sam would have nearly so vicious had they been faking it. Dean got his ass kicked by a Sam who is professing to be in his right mind. I don't think it was due to any precooked plan, just unfortunately a sign of how very much Sam has lost it.

[isaacsapphire.livejournal.com]

I'll agree that within this context "monster" has meaning for Sam beyond what Dean probably intended. On the other hand, it's always been "WE're freaks" and now it's "YOU're a monster", so Dean is either changing his tune significantly or he means something different by "monster". Even if he didn't know the significance it had taken on for Sam, he didn't intend it as a complement. And there was no indication that they weren't both equally aware of the significance "if you leave, don't come back."

As for wanting a fight, there were points where they both reined in, trying to avoid one. Also, the show very pointedly has the conversation with Bobby advising Dean that the confrontation with Sam needs to be "about getting him back, not pushing him away."

[ginzai.livejournal.com]

Oh, the "monster" in 4x21 was by no means a compliment. However, I don't think it was the dire statement of judgment that people seem to be viewing it as... Dean said that if Sam was doing it all of his own free will, then it would mean it wasn't what Sam was doing, it would be what Sam was and THAT would make him a monster. From the expression on his face and the fact that he was crying as he said it, at worst, I can see it as an epiphany, but far more likely that he was still rejecting that classification. It can't be Sam doing those things, because Sam isn't a monster. So Sam needs to stop telling Dean that he is doing them, yadda yadda yadda, or such is my impression of Dean's thoughts right then. And then Sam had to go and prove Dean's greatest fear right with the strangulation bit, which is bound to have significant repercussions for Thursday and next season.

Eh, I think people give Bobby too much credit, to be honest. He's not their father, he doesn't know Sam like Dean does, and absolutely Dean needed to focus on getting Sam back, but I see nothing there to indicate that that wasn't Dean's main goal. It was just that he had an opportunity to completely remove Ruby from the picture (which I think few people would disagree would be good for Sam) and so dove for it. Unfortunately, he failed and that set up for the confrontation itself.

The only thing I can view as an active attempt to push Sam away was the "monster" comment, but even that I can't see as an insult or an attempt to wound Sam so much as an attempt to get through to him. I do agree that they both tried to communicate at the start though, I'm not saying by any means that Sam was looking from the start for a fight and was bound and determined to get one. For that, look at that last car ride in 4x20 - that's Sammy picking a fight. In 4x21, he was very much hopeful that they could "fix" things - so long as Dean went along with his plan.

[isaacsapphire.livejournal.com]

You are right in picking up that that was an if/then statement and that Dean didn't seem to like it any more than Sam did.

My point wasn't so much that Bobby knows what he's talking about (he doesn't know the boys *that* well, certainly not the way they know each other. In BUABS, he identifies Not!Sam by habitual paranoia, not through familiarity with Real!Sam.) but rather that they show felt the need to show us that conversation.

I think it could be argued that Dean's primary objective was killing Ruby, not reconciling with Sam.

Sam's attempt to pick a fight in 4.20 seemed to be an attempt get Dean to talk, to clear the air and start toward a resolution, not just being a jerk.

[ginzai.livejournal.com]

ut rather that they show felt the need to show us that conversation.

My gut response to that conversation is that they needed to have a sounding board for Dean so Show could explain why he was doing what he was and so they flipped-flopped Bobby's characterization so he could play devil's advocate.

As for Sam, I think Dean's priorities (killing Ruby and recovering Sam) were basically equal. For Dean, Sam's happiness has never come above Sam's safety. I think he saw Ruby and made an tactical decision to take her out, especially because they suspected her of having freed Sam originally. Even if he could get Sam back, there's no reason to think she wouldn't just free him again.

Sam's attempt to pick a fight in 4.20 seemed to be an attempt get Dean to talk, to clear the air and start toward a resolution, not just being a jerk.

I think you're giving Sammy waaaaay too much credit here. XD The closest we saw to Sam in his right mind was their earlier car conversation, where Dean tried to find out what was going on and Sam admitted that he was scared. Sam wasn't seeking to clear the air though, he wasn't trying to own up to anything or resolve anything, he was still very much hiding and keeping secrets.

Flash forward to the next car conversation. Look at their body language, the evocative words chosen. Sam was definitely trying to instigate a response, but he wasn't looking for a positive one. He wanted Dean to blow up so he could get angry himself. It wasn't to give Dean a chance to understand, it was to allow Sam to justify and excuse his actions and with as aggressively violent as the blood makes him, there's no doubt in my mind that Sam was (possibly subconsciously) hoping it would turn physical as well.

In a way, it was a repeat of their conversation in 4x16 where Dean said he was tired and Sam told him to get angry instead. Except that getting angry has only ever lead Sam to lose control and become overconfident and what good has that done to anyone? Dean's apathy also doesn't solve any problems, but he's been able to work past that on several occasions and actually make progress (with Sam, with the angels). We've yet to see Sam do so in regards to his anger.