SPN 5x17 - Meta thoughts
Apr. 9th, 2010 05:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
errant_janeHere's what happens when I have no internet access at work and very little supervision for the day. I meta! Sort of.
I'm actually a little unclear as to what exactly people are upset about wrt the last five minutes (I haven't read everyone's reaction posts, just saw all the GRAWRs), so let me just dive right in on how that scene played to me—
Dean's entire worldview is based on the idea that family is the most important thing. With the absence of Bobby and his faith in Sam gone, it is logical that Dean would turn to the family that Could Have Been. There is a reason that it was Lisa in Dream a Little Dream of Me and some random model girl in What Is and What Should Never Be. What changed between those two episodes is Dean found out that Lisa had a kid that could be his. That is the major factor there. It's the reason he went to Lisa instead of Cassie. Before that, Lisa was a girl Dean had some fantastic sex with that one time. I don't believe we're meant to think that suddenly Dean thinks she's The One.
OMG, you wanna know how douchetastic I am? I'm totally going to quote my own fic here:
So, fairly douchetastic, but relevant to the topic at least?
Dean is flapping wildly on the hook Team Heaven's got in him. He's accepted his daddy issues with John (which is a major mindfuck for Dean), Bobby is effectively out of the picture for the moment and he feels betrayed by Sam. Lisa and Ben are Dean's untouched ideal. The absence of faith is not enough to get him to say yes to Michael. He has to have that something that he is sacrificing himself for. This is Dean giving in to his despair. He can't fight anymore and his fantasy family is his justification for giving in.
Now, that isn't to say that I don't think Dean's acting like a dillhole. He totally is. I'm just saying it's in character. Spoiler alert: Sometimes Dean is a jackass. We love him anyway.
Other things:
Sam pleading with Dean pretty much broke my heart. Sam needs to have something to believe in. That's been a constant with him from day one. He needed to believe he could have a normal life, that they could find Dad, that they could kill the YED, that he could save Dean. That God existed. Sam without faith is, um, Sam who hooks up with demons and drinks blood. Sam without faith is Sam who will say yes to Lucifer. And he knows it. He knows that Dean saying yes leaves him with nothing.
I've always been of the mind that Sam needs Dean as much as Dean needs him and their friction comes from the fact that Sam really really resents that. So the irony here is that we've finally gotten to a point where Sam is flat-out telling Dean how much he needs him and Dean is completely beyond being able to hear it. Oh, boys! WHY SO ANGSTY?!? ♥
CASTIEL!! Okay, how awesome is drunk, sarcastic Castiel? SO AWESOME!!! This is a Castiel I can get behind!! He should snap on Sam and Dean all the time. Also, his voicemail was hilarious. Castiel made LoL several times without being over-the-top ridiculous. Also, I'm a big big fan of Sam and Castiel. They should totally get together and fight crime together.
The actress who played the false prophet was awesome. Totally gorgeous and she played the part perfectly- starting out sympathetic and getting more and more menacing and fanatical as they went along.
I liked the bartender as well, and the pretty pretty boy. I was sad that they both died. Preacher Dude was also awesome and I liked at the end when he was like, "Um, yeah, things are not going to be okay."
Ummm, I think that's it. At least for the moment. I might have more after I rewatch. WE'LL SEE!!
Oh! I'm also very excited for my S5 SPN playlist between my song for last week's episode and my song for this week's. LET ME LYRIC AT YOU!!
5x16 – The Cause & The Cure by Drag the River
5x17 - When the Chips Are Down by Anais Mitchell (From the Hadestown album, which is AMAZING)
I AM HUGELY AND DORKILY EXCITED, OKAY?
Aright, I'm done now.
ETA: Ahahahaa, right. So then I read what![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
missyjack wrote, so I guess I could also just go with "What she said!"
I'm actually a little unclear as to what exactly people are upset about wrt the last five minutes (I haven't read everyone's reaction posts, just saw all the GRAWRs), so let me just dive right in on how that scene played to me—
Dean's entire worldview is based on the idea that family is the most important thing. With the absence of Bobby and his faith in Sam gone, it is logical that Dean would turn to the family that Could Have Been. There is a reason that it was Lisa in Dream a Little Dream of Me and some random model girl in What Is and What Should Never Be. What changed between those two episodes is Dean found out that Lisa had a kid that could be his. That is the major factor there. It's the reason he went to Lisa instead of Cassie. Before that, Lisa was a girl Dean had some fantastic sex with that one time. I don't believe we're meant to think that suddenly Dean thinks she's The One.
OMG, you wanna know how douchetastic I am? I'm totally going to quote my own fic here:
The fourth girl is sort of a delayed reaction. Dean's dream girl after the fact. She was, in reality, a fun weekend. It was more what she represented, with her kid who could have been Dean's. In another life. The life Dean didn't get to have.
Lisa was always a fantasy and Dean knew this. He never had any illusions about making things with her work. Because Dean fell in love with her when he had a set expiration date. She was there only to illustrate what he could never have in an acutely painful way that he could understand.
Or maybe she was there to let him know what other people got to have because of the things he did. That he mattered, made a difference. Life wasn't fair, but it balanced out in a larger cosmic way.
Which, as it turns out, is bullshit, but it was a nice thought.
So, fairly douchetastic, but relevant to the topic at least?
Dean is flapping wildly on the hook Team Heaven's got in him. He's accepted his daddy issues with John (which is a major mindfuck for Dean), Bobby is effectively out of the picture for the moment and he feels betrayed by Sam. Lisa and Ben are Dean's untouched ideal. The absence of faith is not enough to get him to say yes to Michael. He has to have that something that he is sacrificing himself for. This is Dean giving in to his despair. He can't fight anymore and his fantasy family is his justification for giving in.
Now, that isn't to say that I don't think Dean's acting like a dillhole. He totally is. I'm just saying it's in character. Spoiler alert: Sometimes Dean is a jackass. We love him anyway.
Other things:
Sam pleading with Dean pretty much broke my heart. Sam needs to have something to believe in. That's been a constant with him from day one. He needed to believe he could have a normal life, that they could find Dad, that they could kill the YED, that he could save Dean. That God existed. Sam without faith is, um, Sam who hooks up with demons and drinks blood. Sam without faith is Sam who will say yes to Lucifer. And he knows it. He knows that Dean saying yes leaves him with nothing.
I've always been of the mind that Sam needs Dean as much as Dean needs him and their friction comes from the fact that Sam really really resents that. So the irony here is that we've finally gotten to a point where Sam is flat-out telling Dean how much he needs him and Dean is completely beyond being able to hear it. Oh, boys! WHY SO ANGSTY?!? ♥
CASTIEL!! Okay, how awesome is drunk, sarcastic Castiel? SO AWESOME!!! This is a Castiel I can get behind!! He should snap on Sam and Dean all the time. Also, his voicemail was hilarious. Castiel made LoL several times without being over-the-top ridiculous. Also, I'm a big big fan of Sam and Castiel. They should totally get together and fight crime together.
The actress who played the false prophet was awesome. Totally gorgeous and she played the part perfectly- starting out sympathetic and getting more and more menacing and fanatical as they went along.
I liked the bartender as well, and the pretty pretty boy. I was sad that they both died. Preacher Dude was also awesome and I liked at the end when he was like, "Um, yeah, things are not going to be okay."
Ummm, I think that's it. At least for the moment. I might have more after I rewatch. WE'LL SEE!!
Oh! I'm also very excited for my S5 SPN playlist between my song for last week's episode and my song for this week's. LET ME LYRIC AT YOU!!
5x16 – The Cause & The Cure by Drag the River
All your friends have left you
All your friends have gone
The bitter truth will you sink you
While the air escapes your lungs
God has forsaken you
But the devil brings you home
I see you've lost your faith
All hope has been erased
Misplaced thoughts so pure
I am the cause and I am the cure
5x17 - When the Chips Are Down by Anais Mitchell (From the Hadestown album, which is AMAZING)
Aim for the heart, shoot to kill
If you don't do it then the other one will
Whatcha gonna do when the chips are down?
Now that the chips are down
And the first shall be first
And the last shall be last
Cast your eyes to heaven
You get a knife in the back
Nobody's righteous
Nobody's proud
Nobody's innocent
Now that the chips are down
I AM HUGELY AND DORKILY EXCITED, OKAY?
Aright, I'm done now.
ETA: Ahahahaa, right. So then I read what
missyjack wrote, so I guess I could also just go with "What she said!"![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2010-04-09 10:34 pm (UTC)As I was watching, I knew it wasn't necessarily that he was in love with Lisa, but that he was in love with the idea of having something so ideal and normal (Ben. Ben is adorable). I actually really liked the last 5 minutes, and maybe even whimpered a bit.
♥
(no subject)
Date: 2010-04-10 01:06 am (UTC)Totally! Dean's deep secret wish is totally that family. It's tragic because he can't have it. Oh, Dean!!
(no subject)
Date: 2010-04-09 10:42 pm (UTC)And Sam's desperate need for Dean to be with him on the whole not giving in thing was heartbreaking.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-04-10 01:12 am (UTC)It was so heartbreaking!! Sam is completely wrecking me this season!!
(no subject)
Date: 2010-04-10 04:39 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-04-09 11:18 pm (UTC)It was even season 3 canon (see the Dream episode), that Dean has always loved Lisa more than any of his other girls, and clearly one of the reasons is Ben.
Tbh, I also think there's no way Jensen would have had this wonderful chemistry with the actress playing Cassie, I think they just didn't click, while this actress is just plain wonderful IMO and they look so good together in that last scene. ♥
I wonder where they are going with this, probably nowhere, knowing the SPN writers. ^^'
That Dean/Cas scene near the end, discussing about being hungover, was pretty fantastic too, surely ruined by that, um, horrible comment Dean closed it with, OMG. What are the writers smoking? Poor Jensen, they make his life so hard!
Also, BEST VOICEMAIL EVER. And his little jokes being lost in translation, I couldn't love him more. He went from hilarious to terribly depressing, that 'a poor example of one' broke my heart for good, the way he delivered it. :(
"Totally gorgeous and she played the part perfectly"
Yeah! It made me laugh a little that makeup is always canon EVOL. Did you notice her lipstick getting darker and darker? LOL.
PS: I'll probably copy/paste this comment as a reaction post tomorrow, if I remember where I commented, just so you know I lazy I am. ;)
(no subject)
Date: 2010-04-10 01:20 am (UTC)Everything with Castiel was awesome last night!! He was TOTALLY MADE OF WIN!!!
I did not notice the the lipstick of EVOL, but that's awesome!!
Ha! That's fair. ;D
(no subject)
Date: 2010-04-10 12:00 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-04-10 01:21 am (UTC)I wouldn't be upset if Ben turned out to be his, ngl.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-04-10 01:26 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-04-10 01:32 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-04-10 12:56 am (UTC)Tell me to quit reading reactions.
No, really. Sit on me to make me stop. Otherwise, I may hulk out.
AND HERE I CAPSLOCK YOUR SANITY.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-04-10 01:22 am (UTC)Quit reading reactions. No, really. You should be writing anyway.
I ACCEPT YOUR CAPSLOCK WITH GLEE!!
(no subject)
Date: 2010-04-10 01:33 am (UTC)You're so right. *closes LJ and opens Word*
AS WELL YOU SHOULD!
(no subject)
Date: 2010-04-10 01:06 am (UTC)that's what he said.
*facepalm*
I just couldn't help myself!
In other news, you are v.v. smart, especially your points about Sam. Well put!
(no subject)
Date: 2010-04-10 01:25 am (UTC)N'aw, thank you!! Sam is breaking my heart all over the place this season!! Sammy!!!