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isaacsapphireI’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?
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?
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no subject
Date: 2009-05-13 04:44 pm (UTC)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.
no subject
Date: 2009-05-13 05:00 pm (UTC)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.