Let's FINALLY get all those SPN thoughts out in the open!

[dragojustine]

Oh my god, I am verbose. I'm sorry. You should probably only read the last cut-tag.


Squee:

This season, both the boys have been SO HOT. Really. They both got hotter over hiatus. I don't know how that's possible.

And, in particular, Jared has been SO CUTE. He has really managed to grow as an actor on this show (seriously. Compare it to early first season. You'd hardly know it was the same guy) and recent episodes have had him showing off his hot manly shouty side ("Just tell me WHO YOU ARE!" *ovaries explode*), his mad pratfall and humor skillz (his facial expressions in reaction to the AC fire were just BEAUTIFUL), his cute adorkable side ("I lost my shoe" absolutely wins, but let's not forget "Uh... have a nice day?" which would be the best thing ever if "I lost my shoe" hadn't already happened). He has also showcased some competent hand-to-hand (FINALLY- when he thought he was fighting demons), some research (Faust!), good gut instincts, some brotherly trust and communication (when Dean tells him to be careful, he reacts well), etc.

Of course, Jensen has been rocking too! We have gotten his mad humor skills (Oh god. His little doing-the-math double take in 3x02!), his cute adorkableness ("I'm Batman!" *loves forever*) a little bit of emo ("What am I leaving behind besides a car?" wasn't quite One Perfect Crystaline Tear, but it hit my emo kink), the wonderful big-brother protectiveness in 3x03...

And, of course, his reaction to The Deal. His horndog-face-stuffing-hedonism (which I think is a PERFECTLY in character response to the immediate aftermath of his deal, though I hope it doesn't last too long). Actually laying everything out on the line for Sam in the very first episode, which is interesting character growth since the Keeping of the Angsty Secret last season. Of course, he is still repressing and blustering. But here's the thing- largely, it's for Sam. Dean needs Sam to know that the deal was okay, that Dean won't regret it for a minute. He is trying to keep Sam from feeling what he felt after John's sacrifice, to minimize that survivor guilt, the feeling of unworthiness. It's idiotic, of course, but that is what he is trying to do and it works for me. But we see through it. We see the fraying, around the edges, the strain of his happy-go-lucky face. He might have been fooling even himself for awhile, but now he isn't fooling anyone. It came out, utterly, heartbreakingly, in his conversation with Casey. Dean is terrified of hell and can't admit it, and Jensen's absolutely incredible acting talent just sells it, and your heart just breaks because oh, Dean.

This is probably where I should stop and link to this Jensen love post. I usually love and fixate on and obsess over characters and shows- rarely do I consider myself a fan of an actor, just his character. But Jensen... He makes me happy. I am happy that someone as gorgeous and talented and hardworking and sincere and classy as Jensen Ackles exists in the world, and that he allows cameras to be pointed at him all the damn time. You know? He is truly an impressive person and I think his considerable skill and talent are underrated because of his sheer beauty, and he is getting more skilled and (freakishly) more gorgeous every passing year and I hope that is recognized and his career is everything he wants it to be, because he deserves it. (Wow. I NEVER love on actors like that. What has happened to my "I love the character, not the actor" detachment?)

I love the way they introduced the Dreaded RuBela. I do not hate these characters. So, good. They have good character and story potential, and no obvious romantic potential, so I am happy. I like the mytharc they are setting up- demons and Luficer and Antichrist!Sammy oh my!. I like the factions in hell and the potential for serious political maneouvering, though I hope they make Sam do it competently because he is supposed to be extremely smart and I often wish we saw that from the character more. I like the different motivations we have pushing on Sam's character this season. Up until now, the heavy emotional character arcs have all been Dean's and I feel like maybe Jared is growing into being able to carry that kind of heavy character development? I hope so, because Sam is going through a LOT right now and I want to see it in excruciating emo detail.

Dude, did anyone catch alll the mirrors in 3x04? WOW. So many with the mirror shots. Okay, we get it- Dean and Casey are mirror images here. Their religious beliefs, fears of hell, right down to the way they both plead for the others life. The face of the enemy is looking more and more like the face we see in the mirror every morning: Dean, Sam, and Bobby have now all knowingly cooperated with/sympathized with a demon. The evil in demons seems not all that different from the evil in humans, and likewise their abitions and motivations. Sam and the Demon Priest do not look all that different when they kill. Ruby may well save Dean if it suits her evil purpose, and Sam may well become the Antichrist if it suits his good purpose. It's all mirrors and reflections! Everything's topsy-turvy! However will the boys negotiate this ambiguous world? Normally I object to this kind of anviliciousness, but... well, our show is Not Subtle. (The Green Shoes of Envy, anyone?). And I love it despite that. Maybe just a little because of it. So, yaay for all the mirror shots!



Things I am disappointed in:

The show kind of sucks at continuity sometimes. They just... drop things. In my own personal third season, Ellen is rebuilding a base and functioning as a dispatcher/general of the hunters, trying to spread the real word of what's happening and tracking the omens and dispatching hunters to them and spreading any acquired knowledge and calling up Bobby to commiserate about his role of Winchester pseudo-parent. Because I refuse to believe, after she insisted to Sam and Dean that they were in this war together, that she would have dropped out. That's just... character assassination, and I won't stand for it.

In much the same way, it seems that they dropped Henricksen, and that also pisses me off. *le sigh* That character had fascinating potential- he made us look at the Winchesters and the entire hunted world and main story arc events in a whole other light, with other sympathies, and he did it well. The character of Henricksen said fascinating things about Dean and Winchester ethics. It also isolated them just that little bit more from the non-hunting mainstream world, forced them just a little bit more underground, added a sense of urgency and claustrophobia that I really appreciated. It feels so incredibly cheap that the threat he poses just... vanishes.

I miss brother togetherness. It's astonishing, just how few scenes Dean and Sam are actually in together now. It was so fundamental to their relationship before, that they lived in each other's pockets, that they were practically never apart. Now, they are split up for one reason or another the entire time. I get what the show is doing. I get that Sam is hiding things, keeping secrets from Dean. I get that we are sowing Dean's unease and distrust of Sam. I get that this wedge is forcing them apart because Dean could never confront Sam with "What, are you evil now?" and Sam can't talk to Dean about saving him, and I get that Dean's facade about his deal has alienated Sam and I get that he does not quite know how to fix this. I understand the emotional arc, I do. I just want the damn payoff already! They have already been apart too long. I want the reconciliation, I want the feelings spilled on the table, I want the emo angst and Jensen's Perfect Tears. Then I want them to just be brothers again, and to tease each other and play pranks and make bitchfaces and be together and interacting all the time. I want it back. Stop holding out on me, show! I MISS IT!

*sigh* I love my show, I just want it to be BETTER.


Thinky Geekery:

Azazel:
Yes, we've know YED was Azazel for forever, but it's cannon now and that makes me happy. He's a good choice, I think. Azazel was supposedly the leader of the fallen angels who fathered sons with the daughters of man, giving rise to a race of heroes- "there were giants in the earth in those days." Azazel taught men the art of arms and armor. He is the scapegoat- "to him ascribe all sin." I'd say the reasons I think he's a good choice are pretty self-explanatory, here? (Okay, also I like Sam as part of a race of giants. Hee)

Lucifer:
"How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, who didst rise in the morning? how art thou fallen to the earth"

Generic American Protestantism tends to conflate Lucifer, Satan, Azazel, Samael, the Devil- all the various names of evil all get lumped together. The Mormon tradition does that, and also makes up some aditional mythology of the War in Heaven and the reasons for the fall (having to do with the theology of free will and shit). It took me embarrassingly long to figure out that the textual traditions have so much fascinating complexity dealing with these figures. I do not know if the show will use all this wonderful complexity, or if they will just go for Lucifer=Satan=Devil.

Incidentally, Lucifer was cast from heaven for refusing to bow down to Man. Ruby seems to want to set Sam up as a leader of demons (even if only a figurehead) to serve her political ends. This, to me, is the main argument against Ruby being Lucifer, and I think it will need to seriously be addressed if they go that route.

Lucifer is associated with intellectualism, pride, and the ego. Hello, Sam. (Just saying.)

Samael:
Let's talk about Samael. Why? His name, of course. I think In the Jewish tradition I think he is sometimes identified with the serpent in Eden? Which is the source of him being identified with Satan/Devil/Lucifer in later Christian tradition.

In the gnostic tradition Samael was seen as a facet of the evil demiurge, and was often translated as "the blind god"- unaware of his own origins.

Samael has been said to be the father of Cain (see Sam's association with Cain and Abel below).

Samael has also been identified as the angel who held back the arm of Abraham- the one who prevented the sacrifice of a family member.

I'm just saying.

Cain and Abel:

When Demon Priest referred to Sam as his brother's keeper, my screams of over thought geekish delight could be heard for MILES.

"Then the LORD said to Cain, 'Why are you furious? And why are you downcast? If you do right, won’t you be accepted? But if you do not do right, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must master it.'
And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him. And the LORD said unto Cain, 'Where is Abel thy brother?'
And he said, 'I know not: Am I my brother's keeper?'"

In one way, Dean has been his brother's keeper his whole life- protecting Sam, both from things that will hurt him but also from the more difficult aspects of their hunting life. And Dean was placed in that role in a different way last season, with his responsibility to save Sam or kill him. (In a way, with his refusal to kill Sam, Dean even rejected being his brother's keeper. I mean, if you take John's instructions as the word of god) Now, with his deal, Dean thought he had fulfilled that duty- only now he is slowly discovering that it wasn't enough, that Sam won't be safe post-deal. Dean thought his deal would leave Sam safe forever, absolve him of all responsibility- instead, it has only made it so he will not be able to keep protecting Sam when he needs it. This is the cause of a hell of a lot of the still-repressed Dean Angst.

Sam, in the meantime, is ending up in the role of brother's keeper for the first time, being responsible for Dean's life, and that is weighing on him heavily. At the same time, how guilty is Sam feeling? Cain was asked that question after he had already killed his brother- Dean's death-warrant is already signed, and it was Sam's fault. And while Cain was seduced to evil by hatred and jealousy of his brother, Sam may be seduced by love and a desire to protect- what an inversion! Sam really is being told "sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must master it."- does he really think that he can make this alliance with demons and yet still master sin, keep from becoming evil? Or does he not care, so long as he fulfills his duty to his brother? Cain brought murder to the world because he was NOT his brother's keeper- will Sam bring the return of Lucifer (or whatever) because he IS?


I really would like comments on the thinky geekery part, though. Am I totally full of shit?

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