(spoilers for Supernatural 6×06)

[rusty_halo]

This is so sad. I really would rather see Dean ditch Sam and go win Lisa back. Lisa and Ben are his best chance at happiness, and they've already put up with so much from him and care about him. I'd rather see him with them than mired back in the codependent misery-inducing mess that is his relationship with Sam.

That said, it makes perfect sense to me that the one thing that would keep him away from Lisa is the need to "save" Sam. And of course I don't blame Lisa for not wanting someone potentially violent around her son, especially after his refusal to explain what happened.

God, I hate the whole fatalistic "I'm a killer" crap. Please let the narrative repudiate that later.

I think I've hit the point where I'm too invested in the show. Instead of delighted at the ~angst~ I'm just sad for Dean. I wish he could rewind to the beginning of the season without the djinn or Sam ever showing up. But no, that brief respite into near-contentment is over, and it's back to Dean the broken man who can barely hold himself together. :(

It didn't help that the episode was structurally weak--too much filler wasted on the MOTW, not nearly enough truth delivered to Dean. The scene with Bobby was great but they needed more of that, with other characters, and not just for humor. You can't put a character like Dean under a truth spell and then barely focus on it!

Anyway. I guess if the Lisa storyline is over (don't spoil me) I'll eventually get reinvested in the Dean and Sam relationship, but I think I'm always going to be wishing Dean was with her and Ben instead. He just seems to be too worn out and fragile to find any kind of happiness in being a hunter; at least in season one the relationship with Sam brought him happiness.

Oh, man. I'm way too invested.

I don't know. I suppose what I really want is for Dean to stop hunting--I know, then there wouldn't be a show! But he and Sam have both given more than enough; they deserve some happiness now. This alpha thing doesn't seem like that huge of a deal; let the Campbells handle it! Or, since there wouldn't be a show without the hunting, give me a freaking reason to want them to hunt. Show me that it's not just soul-crushing misery (without contradicting the several years of canon that have shown me that for Dean it is).

It's not that I want the show to be all shiny happy all the time, but the bleakness and fatalism of this "You're always going to be a hunter and it's always going to make you miserable" plot is a bit much.

I guess if Sam was back to normal and they weren't constantly at each others' throats, it could be okay, sort of a half-life, but with some brotherly bonding happiness mixed in with the hunting-related misery. I just would miss Lisa, though, and Ben. With Ben Dean gets to be a father, and I just like Lisa. She's a female character on Supernatural, so she's underwritten, but the actress imbues her with such a fantastic combination of strength, compassion, and practical intelligence. I'd rather see Dean building a life with them than sinking back into the misery morass with Sam. The show hasn't given me any kind of compelling reason why these particular two guys have to give up their lives and their dreams to save everyone else. Do the Buffy thing--tell the world about the supernatural (it's not like it's that hard to prove!) and get more hunters so that Sam and Dean can go shoe-shopping once in a while!

Okay, have to sleep. Rally tomorrow!

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

Comments

[soundingsea]

He just seems to be too worn out and fragile to find any kind of happiness in being a hunter; at least in season one the relationship with Sam brought him happiness.

I know, right? I mean, I love Sam, and their relationship, but I want them both to be HAPPY, and they just aren't.

[yourlibrarian]

You can't put a character like Dean under a truth spell and then barely focus on it!

This was a major problem I had with not just this episode but the last one.

[rusty_halo]

It's the same problem I had with 3x10, "Dream a Little Dream of Me." The bits we did get were fabulous, but there's so much more they could've done with the opportunity to literally explore the subconscious mind of a character like Dean Winchester.