rusty_halo

So, you know how I posted the other day that I had rewatched season one of Supernatural and written 10,000 words about it? Well, by the time I got to the end of the season, I’d noticed all this thematic stuff that I wanted to go back and look for threads of in the earlier episodes. So I watched 2-10 again, and the 10,000 words grew to 14,000 words.

Pretty sure I’ve officially lost my mind. But anyway. I’m going to split this up and post it in pieces because it’s too big to fit in one entry and because it’s going to take me a while to edit it all.

I am not sure if anyone is going to read this, but if you do, I would absolutely love comments, even if you disagree, because it would make me feel slightly less crazy if I wasn’t talking only to myself, for 14,000 words, about a season of a genre TV show that aired five years ago.

Before we start, here's where I'm coming from when I critique the way the show deals with gender:

I really like Supernatural, but part of my deal with myself about watching it is that it's important for me to recognize where the show fails, where it reinforces dangerous and hurtful aspects of culture, not try to gloss it over just because I like the pretty pretty boys.

I think:

* That telling a story about men in which women exist only to serve the mens' story is inherently offensive because it reinforces powerful, oppressive aspects of culture in which men are regarded as more important than women. This is true even if the story about the men is a really cool story.

* That the "woman of the week" trope is inherently sexist, because it reinforces the idea that the most important characters, the ones worth following week to week, are men. This is true even if the woman of the week is a really cool character (though obviously it's more tolerable if she is a good character).

* That the Bechdel test (whether a story contains 1) at least two women who 2) talk to each other 3) about something other than a man) isn't perfect, but is a pretty good shorthand for getting a quick read on how much the story marginalizes its female characters (portrays them as relevant only in relation to men).

So I'll be noting these things as I go.

If you don't get what I'm talking about or why it relates to Supernatural, watch "Women's Work" and then read the discussion thread here.

Now, on to the (mostly) squee:

1x02: Wendigo

I already posted about the pilot, which I dislike, so I'm beginning here with 1x02. I think it's a better start to the series both because it lacks the egregious misogyny of the pilot and because it delves more into the brothers as characters.

The best part is this conversation, which is more in-depth than anything in the pilot and which introduces several themes that will be explored throughout the series:

Sam: Let’s get these people back to town and let's hit the road, go find Dad. I mean, why are we still even here?

Dean: This is why. *indicates John's journal* This book. This is Dad's single most valuable possession--everything he knows about every evil thing is in here. And he's passed it on to us. I think he wants us to pick up where he left off, you know, saving people, hunting things. The family business.

Sam: That makes no sense. Why doesn't he just call us? Why doesn't he tell us what he wants, tell us where he is?

Dean: I don't know. But the way I see it, Dad's giving us a job to do and I intend to do it.

Sam: Dean, no. I gotta find Dad. I gotta find Jessica's killer. It's the only thing I can think about.

Dean: Ok, all right. Sam. we'll find them, I promise. Listen to me, you've got to prepare yourself. I mean, this search could take a while, and all that anger, you can't keep it burning over the long haul, it's going to kill you. You gotta have patience, man.

Sam: How do you do it? How does Dad do it?

Dean: Well, for one, them. *looks over at Hailey and her brother* I mean, I figure our family's so screwed to hell--maybe we can help some others. Makes things a little more bearable. I'll tell you what else helps: killing as many sons of bitches as I possibly can.

Important character stuff we get from this conversation:

* Sam wants revenge--it's all he can think about--and he's willing to put vengeance above stopping a monster that's bound to kill more people.

* Dean's explanation of why he fights evil is a fantastic insight into his character. He really does want to save other families from becoming as screwed up as his. But there's also something dark in the way he enjoys killing, that he's hurting and that violence makes it more "bearable."

* Dean obeys John's orders without question--it's a huge part of his identity to follow in his father's footsteps. This a source of tension, since Sam is more aware of John's flaws--Dean's annoyed by Sam questioning John, and Sam's annoyed by Dean not questioning him.

* The power dynamic is in Dean's favor--he's the big brother/parental figure. Sam argues, but ultimately, Dean decides what they're going to do and Sam concedes. But Dean is also a big brother/parental figure in a supportive way--he really is concerned about Sam's anger and wants to help him deal with it.

Hailey and her family are an obvious parallel for the Winchester brothers, holding on to each other after the loss of their parents.

Bechdel test: No. Hailey is a good character, though--she's strong-willed and stubborn and will do whatever it takes to protect her family. The monster's victims are men; Hailey gets menaced along with the rest, but her main role is to find her brother, not to be in danger.

1x03: Dead in the Water

The boys are both so young. I feel like I'm waiting for their voices to drop.

This fight between Sam and Dean is interesting:

Sam: The trail for Dad. It's getting colder every day.

Dean: Exactly, so what are we supposed to do?

Sam: I don't know. Something. Anything.

Dean: You know what? I'm sick of this attitude. You don't think I want to find Dad as much as you do?

Sam: I know you do, it's just--

Dean: I'm the one that's been with him every single day for the past two years, while you've been off at college going to pep rallies. We will find Dad. But until then we're going to kill everything bad between here and there.

So, on a Doylist level, this is necessary to explain why we've got all these MOTW episodes in the midst of what's supposed to be a quest.

On a character level, I get Sam's frustration--he wants to get his vengeance and then go back to his "real" life at Stanford. But he's acting like a younger sibling, like a brat--he doesn't have a solution, but he's demanding that Dean come up with one. (Jared Padalecki's line delivery is also particularly huffy and brat-like.)

Dean, meanwhile, is definitely in a parental role--he gives Sam the lecture about what they're going to do and Sam shuts up and goes along. Dean as parental figure is something I'm looking for on this rewatch--it adds layers to see their relationship as not only a traditional brother relationship but also of a child-figure and parental-figure having to renegotiate their power dynamic now that they're adults. Dean's overprotectiveness and Sam's need to assert his own identity make more sense in a parent/child way--Dean basically was Sam's parental figure growing up, since John was so absent.

The underlying tension in this argument isn't about finding their father at all, but about the fact that Dean's happy that Sam's with him and doesn't want Sam to go back to Stanford, and the fact that Sam wants to go back and resents that Dean doesn't want him to.

It's hard to buy that anyone believes these boys' aliases (park rangers? FBI? priests?). They look like college kids. At some point later in the series, they age up and it's easy to believe their roles, but in the early days I was definitely scoffing.

Dean: Kids are the best, huh?

Andrea: Must be hard, with your sense of direction, finding your way to a decent pick-up line.

Sam: Kids are the best? You don't even like kids.

Dean: I love kids!

Sam: Name three children that you even know.

This whole exchange was very funny. Also, despite Sam's critique, Lucas is the first of many kids we see Dean bond with. It's one of his more endearing aspects and probably comes from the fact that he spent so much of his life taking care of Sam--Dean connects with and bonds with kids easily.

And, of course, this isn't just about Dean getting along with the kid--it's his empathy with Lucas' loss of a parent that both makes Dean ultra-lovable (he feels so bad for the kid and so wants to help and protect him) and gives Sam (and the audience) insight into how deeply Dean was devastated by the loss of his mother.

Dean actually lowers his walls for a bit and talks honestly to Lucas about how it hurt to lose his mother, then he promises that he'll believe whatever Lucas tells him and draws a picture of his own family to give to the kid. This is basically the most adorable thing in the history of ever.

Dean to Lucas: You're scared. It's okay. I understand. You see, when I was your age, I saw something real bad happen to my mom. And I was scared too. I didn't want to talk, just like you. But see, my mom, I know she wanted me to be brave. I think about that every day. And I do my best to be brave. Maybe your Dad wants you to be brave, too.

Okay, so the dialog is a little maudlin, and Jensen Ackles hasn't really settled fully into the character yet. BUT. ♥♥♥! I think this is our first official Dean Emo Porn moment, with the extreme closeup and the big eyes and the freckles! Plus, this one wins bonus points for the fact that it cuts to Sam in the background for the moment Dean admits he was scared, because so much of this is about Sam finally coming to understand his brother and realizing how much pain Dean hides in order to "be strong" for Sam.

Also, Dean is so understanding and supportive to the kid. ♥♥♥

Sam: What you said about Mom... you never told me that before.

Dean: It's no big deal. *long pause and look* Oh, god, we're not going to have to hug or anything, are we?

Me: *melts*

I miss the days when it took a lot to pry the emotions out of Dean. It was more satisfying when it took effort to get at--in later seasons he just seems to spill emo at the drop of a hat.

The terrible green screen effect for these early car scenes is pretty egregiously distracting, btw.

Dean: What if we take off and this thing isn't done? What if we've missed something? What if more people get hurt?

Sam: But why would you think that?

Dean: Because Lucas was really scared.

Sam: That's what this is about?

Dean: I just don't want to leave this town until I know the kid's okay.

Sam: Who are you, and what have you done with my brother?

Dean: Shut up.

Oh, man. Dean and responsibility, Dean and empathy, Dean as the one who looks out for little lost kids. ♥♥♥

(I'm sure there's already a lot of academic writing about this, but I am desperately curious to read smarter people's thinky thoughts about Dean as an embodiment of both extremely stereotypical masculine traits and extremely stereotypical feminine traits, and how they relate--the masculine trappings as a defense mechanism?)

Dean: You can't bury the truth, Jake! Nothing stays buried.

*cringes* Okay, look, I didn't say the show was perfect.

This is basically a good episode. Aside from the too-adorable-for-words Dean stuff, the MOTW is thematically very resonant with the main Winchester family arc: it's all about families dealing with loss, discovering flaws in each other, and sacrificing themselves for each other.

Bechdel test: Nope. And this one is a perfect example of the double standard in victims' deaths. Two women and three men get attacked. One of the women is wearing a bathing suit and we get gratuitous shots of her ass and crotch before she finally dies; the second woman is naked and we see her undressing, sinking into the bath, and then writhing against the ghost. Both attacks are highly sexualized--the women are naked or near-naked, and the camera lingers over their bodies to build anticipation for the looming attack. The men, OTOH, die fully clothed, two quickly with no camera lingering. The death of the third is drawn out to emphasize the horror, but neither his fear nor his body are sexualized.

Amy Acker is charismatic and talented and brings life to her character, but the character is mostly just there to be victimized and to further the plot of the week. :(

1x04: Phantom Traveler

Our first demon! It's basically consistent with later mythos, except:

* They never say "Christo" again--wouldn't that be a more convenient test than holy water?

* We don't see demons becoming manifest and thus more powerful once the first half of the exorcism is completed, do we?

* That a person needs to have some sort of mental vulnerability in order to be possessed is only ever mentioned here, as far as I remember.

Dean notices that Sam isn't sleeping, makes him talk about it, tries to help him get over it. One of many examples of Dean in the parental role, noticing what's going on with Sam and trying to help.

Sam calling Dean on the knife under his pillow is a good character moment. For all of Dean's tough act, the life they're living gets to him, too. And Sam knows him so well.

Sam: You look like a seventh grader at his first dance.

Hee! I love their ridiculous suits. No WAY these boys would be believable as Homeland Security, though; Sam looks twenty, if that.

Dean: This is big. I wish Dad were here.

Sam: Me too.

Me: Awwwww the poor boys!

Dean introduces himself as "Dr. James Hetfield." I giggle. Dean's whole phone improv thing is hilarious--he nearly gets Amanda off the plane through the power of pure bullshit.

The boys' plan to get on the plane that they know is going to crash is, um, incredibly stupid. They should have just called in a bomb threat or something. But it's worth it to see Dean freak out about flying. I know it's a cliche to make a big tough guy character and then give him a bunch of cute vulnerabilities that make the audience adore him, but I CAN'T HELP IT I LOVE HIM SO MUCH ANYWAY.

No matter how scared he is, Dean won't even think of letting Sam get on the plane alone. ♥

Dean's humming Metallica. AHHH I LOVE THIS SHOW. (I grew up on Metallica, okay? It was before that Napster crap.)

Sam calming a freaked Dean is also pretty cute.

How'd they get the holy water on the plane? Was this before the liquid ban, or did they bless it afterward? And, hey, there's no way they could buy tickets and make the flight in thirty minutes. And if the manifest demon can just go into the plane and crash it, why would it even need to bother possessing someone? ...Oh, whatever, I'm not watching this show for the plot.

The demon mocks Sam about Jessica's death. How does it know? I guess the demons all chat with each other around the water cooler in hell? Good hint that the Big Bad is a demon.

Jensen Ackles can do comedy--Dean's goofy scared faces are great.

So, John's message:

This is John Winchester. I can't be reached. If this is an emergency, call my son Dean. He can help.

John's not dead, he's just winner of the worst father of the year award. Um, yay?

This message is kind of an amazing character moment, though, and I love that they end the show on it and don't explain its meaning to the audience. It's both a sign of how much confidence John has in Dean and of how twisted their relationship is, John heaping endless dangerous responsibility on his son without asking if he's okay with it or even telling him he's doing it.

Bechdel test: Nope. Amanda's a fine character--smart, strong, emotionally healthy. But she's just there to further the plot.

Next: 1x05-1x07

Originally published at rusty-halo.com. You can comment here or there.