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Apr. 3rd, 2010 01:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
liptonrm_backupI feel like I have things to say about the latest SPN episode. It's certainly made me feel a lot of feelings all across the board. Let's just say, it's a good thing this episode didn't appear before I came to a kind of zen regarding my own issues with the ineffable because it could've made me a lot more distraught than it did. If that makes any sense. ;-)
Point the first: Did you all notice that the dog in Sam's runaway memory is totally the same dog that ATE DEAN'S FACE in 'Mystery Spot?' I find that highly amusing, which perhaps says unsavory things about my sense of humor.
Point the second: Am I the only person in fandom found the intimation that Sam and Dean are soulmates to be really fucking depressing? Because, damn. I fully support that thesis that they're stronger as a family, but I also think they're not very good for each other. I just think that they need things, people, who aren't part of Being a Winchester. Them being completely wrapped up in each other for eternity sounds like a pretty good definition of Hell. But then, I find most wincest to be really fucking depressing, especially the curtainfic.
Family is so difficult. Sam wanted to be his own person, live his own life, to not become a carbon copy of John or Dean because he wasn't John or Dean. And Dean just wanted everyone to get along, to be happy, to not leave him behind. And neither of them really got what they wanted because it's impossible not to become like the people who raised you, just like it's impossible to not be left behind, in the sense that life isn't static and that change happens, and that's a good thing. Which leads me to ...
Point the third: Let's not forget that we're seeing Show through the eyes of unreliable narrators (and, no, I'm not talking about the writers). When we see Dean's memories we're seeing events the way Dean saw them, which, while doing so gives us insight into Dean it doesn't portray factual reality. If John's marriage was only perfect in retrospect the same can be said for Mary as a maternal figure. And Dean's memories are also shaped by the way he is coming to terms with John's reality as a paternal figure. Believe you me, it is possible to really and truly believe that a parent did the best they could and that you would not change having that person as a parent for anything while still acknowledging all the ways in which that parent fucked you up and how imperfect that person was. Coming to terms with parental imperfections is part of becoming an adult.
We see our parents as imperfectly as we see our siblings, and all of that is viewed just as imperfectly as we view our own individual pasts.
Point the fourth: That was the best use of Ash evar. I don't think anyone will be suprised to discover that I've never been a big Ash aficionado. I didn't hate the guy, he just kind of felt a little deus ex machina. You know, like Bobby, except for how Bobby is more awesome (don't ask me why, he just is;-). But, dude, Ash dressing up like a Mexican wrestler to fool Zachariah! Ash decrypthing Heaven! Ash rocking out in the Roadhouse! And, oh, Ash's little face when he found out that Jo and Ellen are dead! Best Ash Evar.
Point the fifth: If I were Dean I would've said yes to Michael two episodes ago. I think, at this juncture, it's a whole lot more likely that Dean would say yes to Michael then for Sam to say yes to Lucifer. Sam hates Lucifer and everything Lucifer represents, it's an active emotion and Sam feels like he can do something about all of it. Dean, on the other hand, doesn't feel like he can do anything, that everything he does only makes things worse. So why not say yes to Michael? Yeah, it'll kick off the Apocalypse for real, but everybody's dying anyway so what's the fucking point? It's all kind of making suicide by angel seem like the way to go.
And, yes, I know that Michael said he won't leave Dean a drooling mess. But, hell, if Dean wants to die I'm sure Michael can arrange it. He'd consider it a gift.
Point the sixth: Heaven is really boring. I come back to the point that life can't remain static. There's only so much of the "Reliving Favorite Memories" game that humans can handle. We need variety, we need growth. I mean, yeah, boredom is better than torture, but it still sucks. If Hell highlights and strengthens the depravity in the human condition then Heaven should do the opposite, but it doesn't.
On top of all of that it's really frigging lonely. And that's coming from someone who wants to own a couple acres in the middle of nowhere and not have to deal with people any more than necessary, so if the hermit-in-training says it's lonely then maybe there's a slight problem.
In conclusion: I've frequently thought that this whole Apocalypse thing is really a big test for the angels, one that they're currently failing. They're supposed to keep the faith but instead they're behaving like petty children who are also fanatic ideologues. They have no conception of mercy or compassion or forgiveness, any of the good things that most humans have to employ just to get through the day. This is the angels' time to rise or fall and all they can do is run around whining about how the Winchesters won't let them "purify" the world. What a bunch of babies.
Okay, wow, my tone on the above is kind of more than a little glib. I can't seem to find a happy medium between LA LA LA I'M NOT LISTENING and curling up under my covers because Show hurts and I hurt (emotionally) and it all hurts. OMG, Castiel's face at the end and Dean dropping the amulet into the trash and we're all alone, no matter what, always alone.
So, ummm, yeah. There's that.
comments at http://liptonrm.dreamwidth.org/5685.html.
Point the first: Did you all notice that the dog in Sam's runaway memory is totally the same dog that ATE DEAN'S FACE in 'Mystery Spot?' I find that highly amusing, which perhaps says unsavory things about my sense of humor.
Point the second: Am I the only person in fandom found the intimation that Sam and Dean are soulmates to be really fucking depressing? Because, damn. I fully support that thesis that they're stronger as a family, but I also think they're not very good for each other. I just think that they need things, people, who aren't part of Being a Winchester. Them being completely wrapped up in each other for eternity sounds like a pretty good definition of Hell. But then, I find most wincest to be really fucking depressing, especially the curtainfic.
Family is so difficult. Sam wanted to be his own person, live his own life, to not become a carbon copy of John or Dean because he wasn't John or Dean. And Dean just wanted everyone to get along, to be happy, to not leave him behind. And neither of them really got what they wanted because it's impossible not to become like the people who raised you, just like it's impossible to not be left behind, in the sense that life isn't static and that change happens, and that's a good thing. Which leads me to ...
Point the third: Let's not forget that we're seeing Show through the eyes of unreliable narrators (and, no, I'm not talking about the writers). When we see Dean's memories we're seeing events the way Dean saw them, which, while doing so gives us insight into Dean it doesn't portray factual reality. If John's marriage was only perfect in retrospect the same can be said for Mary as a maternal figure. And Dean's memories are also shaped by the way he is coming to terms with John's reality as a paternal figure. Believe you me, it is possible to really and truly believe that a parent did the best they could and that you would not change having that person as a parent for anything while still acknowledging all the ways in which that parent fucked you up and how imperfect that person was. Coming to terms with parental imperfections is part of becoming an adult.
We see our parents as imperfectly as we see our siblings, and all of that is viewed just as imperfectly as we view our own individual pasts.
Point the fourth: That was the best use of Ash evar. I don't think anyone will be suprised to discover that I've never been a big Ash aficionado. I didn't hate the guy, he just kind of felt a little deus ex machina. You know, like Bobby, except for how Bobby is more awesome (don't ask me why, he just is;-). But, dude, Ash dressing up like a Mexican wrestler to fool Zachariah! Ash decrypthing Heaven! Ash rocking out in the Roadhouse! And, oh, Ash's little face when he found out that Jo and Ellen are dead! Best Ash Evar.
Point the fifth: If I were Dean I would've said yes to Michael two episodes ago. I think, at this juncture, it's a whole lot more likely that Dean would say yes to Michael then for Sam to say yes to Lucifer. Sam hates Lucifer and everything Lucifer represents, it's an active emotion and Sam feels like he can do something about all of it. Dean, on the other hand, doesn't feel like he can do anything, that everything he does only makes things worse. So why not say yes to Michael? Yeah, it'll kick off the Apocalypse for real, but everybody's dying anyway so what's the fucking point? It's all kind of making suicide by angel seem like the way to go.
And, yes, I know that Michael said he won't leave Dean a drooling mess. But, hell, if Dean wants to die I'm sure Michael can arrange it. He'd consider it a gift.
Point the sixth: Heaven is really boring. I come back to the point that life can't remain static. There's only so much of the "Reliving Favorite Memories" game that humans can handle. We need variety, we need growth. I mean, yeah, boredom is better than torture, but it still sucks. If Hell highlights and strengthens the depravity in the human condition then Heaven should do the opposite, but it doesn't.
On top of all of that it's really frigging lonely. And that's coming from someone who wants to own a couple acres in the middle of nowhere and not have to deal with people any more than necessary, so if the hermit-in-training says it's lonely then maybe there's a slight problem.
In conclusion: I've frequently thought that this whole Apocalypse thing is really a big test for the angels, one that they're currently failing. They're supposed to keep the faith but instead they're behaving like petty children who are also fanatic ideologues. They have no conception of mercy or compassion or forgiveness, any of the good things that most humans have to employ just to get through the day. This is the angels' time to rise or fall and all they can do is run around whining about how the Winchesters won't let them "purify" the world. What a bunch of babies.
Okay, wow, my tone on the above is kind of more than a little glib. I can't seem to find a happy medium between LA LA LA I'M NOT LISTENING and curling up under my covers because Show hurts and I hurt (emotionally) and it all hurts. OMG, Castiel's face at the end and Dean dropping the amulet into the trash and we're all alone, no matter what, always alone.
So, ummm, yeah. There's that.
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Date: 2010-04-04 03:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-04-04 11:21 pm (UTC)So they're Republicans? :D
no subject
Date: 2010-04-05 05:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-04-07 04:08 am (UTC)GodDaddyGod loves me best so I'm gonna act like a giant asshole. Now we just have to find the pretty, pretty Savior-figure to lead us against the ravening hordes.