Supernatural (8): Dean Spoke Against His Father, I Don’t Know What to Do.

I frighten extremely easily (a guy I know used to love jumping out at me from around corners because I would scream every time), but this episode freaked me the hell out. I have had trouble sleeping lately, and the idea that some dude with an otherworldly drug habit could get into my dreams does not increase my prospects of getting some decent shut-eye. Well, maybe I could curl up with Dean instead. Sorry, got distracted for a moment.

I couldn’t be happier that they filled in Bobby’s back-story. It makes sense that he would have a strong attachment to John, since they share loosing wives to evil. Bobby’s calm acceptance that all hunters get into the business for a reason demonstrates that there is hope for Sam and Dean to be somewhat emotionally well adjusted. They can take Booby as a model and not become megalomaniacs like daddy. (Not implying that anyone can replace their father.)

Or they might just be freaks. What was with Sam’s sex dream about Bella? I am in no, mark me no, mood to deal with some kind of brother battle over Bella. I find Bella a less annoying character than most of the women who pop in on this show; I don’t want her storyline to be botched. (This statement should in no way be construed as a complaint that Supernatural is sexist. I did not wake up as Katherine Heigl.) The way things are playing currently Dean’s anger at her doesn’t appear to be anger masking sexual tension, rather a genuine dislike of her opportunism and solipsism. So, unless something changes, I have not great fear of any fratricide due to Bella. But where did Sam’s dream come from? It just feels out of place. Not to mention that she is a harlot and Sam deserves better.

But do we ever get what we deserve? Isn’t that the question underlying Dean’s horrifying self-revelation? Often on TV when a character has their moment of self-consciousness (either forced upon them by another, or through confrontation with the self) that moment doesn’t provide anything new to the audience. The moment of self-consciousness is different from the moment of revelation. But as Dean battled with himself we learned about Dean. In two and a half seasons Dean has never said a word against his father, but now we know that there is a part of him that is hurt and angry about the way his father treated him. To believe yourself to be nothing but a blunt instrument has to be the epitome of despair. He did deserve better from his father, and I don’t know why no one seems to comprehend that. How a parent could foster such feelings of worthlessness in a child is unfathomable to me. Dean is presented as a (somewhat) limited character: loves Sam, kills evil, drinks, has sex. Sam is presented as the complicated character, and the contrast does a great deal for the show. But in accord with the way the show treats the creatures and demons the boys encounter, we are getting more glimpses about the subtleties and difficulties of these two characters.

I want Dean to live, so as traumatizing as it is experiencing his discovery of that desire in himself, I know that if Dean wants it he will achieve it. If nothing else, the Winchesters are determined.

The TV Girl