more venting about spn 6×14

[rusty_halo]

All the meta about how that episode was awesome because Dean chose Sam over Lisa and Ben is making me hate Sam/&Dean. :(

I already think Sam is the weakness of the show--a boring character played by a poor actor--but I liked having him around because his relationship with Dean was interesting. But the show's endless retreading of their twisted relationship grows increasingly dull, and cheapens what was a deeply moving story the first few times around.

It's not just that I think it would be healthier for Dean to have intense emotional relationships with people other than Sam. It's that I as a viewer am bored and would much rather see Dean having new and exciting interactions with characters like Castiel and Lisa than treading the same old ground with Sam. :P

(Yes, I know, this is blasphemy in SPN fandom. Don't kill me.)

*sigh*

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

Comments

[netweight]

(You keep making more posts! I am not fast enough in my replies!)

All the meta about how that episode was awesome because Dean chose Sam over Lisa and Ben

But it was not awesome? The episode is about two sisters who end up DEAD because they are literally living inside each other's skin. This is the situation with Sam and Dean now. This is what the episode told us. It is not good, it is bad.

[rusty_halo]

*waves*

The meta that inspired this post compared the two sisters to Dean and Lisa. >:(

[netweight]

Ahahahahah!

Though this is why I can't go off-list to read reactions and analysis and meta in this fandom. I'm almost curious but no.

[alcibiades]

Huh. I totally missed that! Now I feel stupid!

That is awesome.

So which is which?

Is Dean the vengeful spirit because his actions in getting Sam re-ensouled will cause the "death" of Sam? Or is Dean the blond sister, who, when his brother is dead, is his one anchor back to this plane?

[netweight]

It totally harked back to the typical season one structure of the episodes, with the supporting characters mirroring the Winchesters. I loved when they did that, just the elegance of the structure and also how it allowed for so many interesting guest characters.

I actually don't know, I think it can be read both ways, and that is maybe part of the point. Is Dean now a ghost of his old self? would be another possible reading to add to the ones you mentioned. They all work.

[netweight]

Though something I had thought about before but forgotten in the meanwhile, and which can give indications towards one interpretation over another: the way the sisters are positioned at the end, with the ghost looking over her dying sister is very similar to Sam and Dean's positions at the start of the episode, with Sam on the floor (in the middle of his Hell flashback) and Dean leaning over him.

[alcibiades]

That makes some visual sense, since the soul is kind of where the kidney would be - kind of. And Cas has warned him about being the death of Sam. OTOH, the vengeful spirit lights up in fire at the end, and we just saw Sam encased in fire at the end of the previous episode. So he's more associated with fire.

I guess we'll have to wait and see how the season plays out to know for sure.

But I suppose it's more by way of being a cautionary tale. I hope Dean's rejection of Lisa doesn't lead to her death, because in that case, the parallel with the ugly sister will be more complete.

[netweight]

OTOH, the vengeful spirit lights up in fire at the end, and we just saw Sam encased in fire at the end of the previous episode.

I thought about that too after I finished writing down the second comment but felt silly adding yet another comment. ;)

I suppose one can read the whole thing as a parallel to the situation between Dean and Lisa, but I just didn't see it that way at all. I'd have to spin it around at a 45º angle and look at it sideways while squinting, whereas sisters - Winchesters fits in various ways, all of which seem more logical, interesting and 'natural' (for lack of a better word). (When I said that it can be read in both ways I meant Sam and Dean can take either sister role, not that it can be either sisters-Winchesters or sisters-Dean/Lisa. I'm not sure if I was clear, sorry for that.)

I really don't think they'll end up killing Lisa. They already did that with Ellen and Jo, the whole bringing back the characters to kill them off. I don't think they'll go there again.

[alcibiades]

I suppose one can read the whole thing as a parallel to the situation between Dean and Lisa, but I just didn't see it that way at all. I'd have to spin it around at a 45º angle and look at it sideways while squinting, whereas sisters - Winchesters fits in various ways, all of which seem more logical, interesting and 'natural' (for lack of a better word). (When I said that it can be read in both ways I meant Sam and Dean can take either sister role, not that it can be either sisters-Winchesters or sisters-Dean/Lisa. I'm not sure if I was clear, sorry for that.)

I much before the parable of the siblings who are so wrapped up in each other, they've exchanged body parts. And how, while that started as a strength, it becomes a weakness for them later on.

But I guess I was thinking for an ancillary bit there's also the storyline about Dean being a dick to Ben and Lisa and how the MOTW were a bunch of men being a dick to a woman.

And I also hope - bigtime - that the writers don't kill off Lisa - she's been such a wonderful character. And there would be a lot of gnashing of teeth and vows to no longer watch and so on among fandom, I'm sure. But, since it's a horror genre show, you can't ever relax entirely on that front. [g]

[alcibiades]

LOL. That's "prefer", not "before". I wonder how my fingers cross wires on those two.

[rusty_halo]

Oh Supernatural... just when you think it can't get more sexist...

Sorry, but after all the feminist commentary about what they did to Mary, and to Madison, and to Bela, and to Ruby, I would have thought surely they'd know better than to fridge Ellen and Jo (!). So no amount of misogyny will surprise me--Lisa already exists solely to create emotional reactions in Dean, so I'll be very shocked if the show can resist the epic manpain payoff that her death will deliver.

[alcibiades]

I already think Sam is the weakness of the show--a boring character played by a poor actor--but I liked having him around because his relationship with Dean was interesting.

I actually liked Robo Sam a lot. But I've been feeling Sam has been rather flat since he got his soul back.

I guess I prefer the show when there is bad tension between the brothers. I loved Season 4 and the tension between them that dominated from start to finish. I never got enough of that. That's my favorite season.

Eliding that tension does make the show seem flatter and far less dramatic to me. Also, at the moment, Jared seems like he needs a larger range of facial expressions.

And they seem to have forgotten a lot of his characteristics from season 4 and 5.

I agree that JP is not as talented as JA but I do think he has gotten much better. Just the last few episodes he's seemed lackluster. In contrast to JA, who was anything but on his return from hell.

[rusty_halo]

Yeah, I like Sam's puppy dog eyes as a contrast to RoboSam, but what happened to the Sam whose struggle was to control his rage and who had genuinely started to believe that cutting off human connections was the only way to survive? Getting his soul back shouldn't change any of that--it was happening throughout S4 and S5 while he still had a soul.

JP has gotten better, but he's still very obviously a weak actor. I'll be shocked if he gets hired for much of anything post-SPN.