Alice’s Review: Supernatural 10.12, “About A Boy” aka The Revenge of Taylor Swift
I’m one of those people that absolutely loathed season nine’s “Bad Boys.” I thought it was contrived, manipulative, and a totally unnecessary piece of trash. When I found out that there would be another story involving the same teenage Dean, written by the same writer Adam Glass, my expectations fell right into the gutter. Turns out that may be a good thing with “About A Boy,” because I had a blast watching it.
No, this wasn’t another “Mystery Spot” or “The French Mistake,” but it had entertainment value. Looking at the structure you wouldn’t see it. The episode is a formulaic, paint by numbers kind of story. There’s plot contrivances, predictability, heavy handedness at times (common Adam Glass traits) yet for some reason I didn’t care. I was actually entertained. For one, it was a light, fun script. That %&$# Taylor Swift song has been in my head all freaking day and no wonder Dean likes it. That’s rather bouncy number. The opening song was really good too, fitting the mood of Dean desperately digging for answers in his room in solitude. Thanks to Shazam (the best app ever!) I know that song now is “Ashes the Rain and I” by The James Gang. That’s a pretty obscure song and the app had it identified in no time!
I really loved Dean as a teenager this time. Not only did Dylan Everett, the kid that played Dean, do so much better this time around, but I swear I was watching the real Dean. I didn’t get that vibe at all in “Bad Boys.” His lines were funny, his lingo perfect, and mannerisms ideal. It’s probably because this time we were getting the current day Dean in a teenage boy. Turns out that makes a huge difference. I’m also the mother of a 13 year old boy and yes, I so get the puberty pain. The taste in music is genuinely off (not Taylor Swift but he loves Carly Rae Jepsen), his voice is cracking and there is that lack of control over the male anatomy. Young Dean sold it and Sam’s freaked out looks were priceless as well.
But it wasn’t just the teen version of Dean. It was also nice to see a spark in Dean instead of the mopey, complacent guy we’ve gotten recently. I enjoyed seeing it. I really loved seeing Dean bond with a normal lady in a bar, sharing nothing but drinks and war stories. Not a lot of flirting, just good old fashioned sharing pain, the way spending time in dive bars should be. I really love that they were able to carry Tina perfectly into a teenage girl. Wise for her years, yet she now gets a new start. The twist that they couldn’t change her back and she decided that was okay was clever. Yes, the thought of second chances when your life turned out a mess is definitely making lemons out of lemonade. Why not when you’re an admitted crappy adult?
There were some LOL moments too, like teenage Dean trying to drive the Impala and pushing the seat up, smashing Sam’s long legs into the dashboard. Way to use your super tall actor as a humor device! Dean had some great zingers too, something we haven’t seen in a long time. Sam: “I’m too big to fit in that.” Dean: “First time you ever had to say that, huh?” Bwah! I was actually amused too over the kid eating witches who figured out that thanks to Amber Alert and milk cartons it was better to kidnap low life adults that no one would miss and turn then into children. That’s one way of beating the system! And yes, I do believe that’s the first time we’ve seen an evil witch thrown into a large oven and burned alive. Creepy and fun. I like something different.
I’m even impressed that it tied in to one of the season arcs, aka Rowena, even if I don’t care for Rowena. I’ll take continuity any way I can get it these days. Seems that her own coven isn’t pleased with her either. I’m still trying to figure out why Rowena surfaced after all this time. All we know now is there was unpleasantness with the grand coven. Yep, need more. So are Sam and Dean going to use this little encounter as a way to go after Rowena now because they’ve got nothing better to do? Yep, still not caring all that much.
I laughed at the end. I admit it. It was a shallow attempt spark a laugh and dammit I fell right into it. First I laughed at the bad joke about the grand coven being an 80’s hair metal band. “You know, a lot of hairspray, a lot of eye shadow, a lot of keytar…” Then after Sam’s affirming speech and Dean’s “I’m back baby,” we get Sam’s horrified looks and Dean’s “it’s not bad” smirk to Taylor Swift. It’s classic “Supernatural”, except that Dean is now channeling his inner teenage girl. I’m not sure if Kripke would approve, but The Scorpions didn’t work after “Bugs” either.
Dean’s predicament was the real fascinating humdinger for me. By going back to his 14 year old self, he didn’t have the Mark of Cain. So, if he stays a teenager, no more Mark. Of course we knew that Dean would switch back from his 14 year old self and get the Mark of Cain again, but the question is (and no, don’t say I can’t live without Jensen as your answer), would Dean have been better off as a 14 year old, able to start life over? Sure he’d been younger than Sam, triggering a lot of “son” jokes, he wouldn’t be able to drink legally for seven years even if he had a brand new liver, but would he have been better off? It’s a very interesting notion. Dean was willing to do it, but quickly found that his 14 year old self doesn’t have the ability to fight the bad guys and rescue his “little” brother from peril.
I get that Dean made that decision to grab the hex bag, become an adult and rescue Sam. Geez, we’ve only seen that roughly 200 times now. We get it. Naturally it’s the Dean Winchester thing to do. That’s where the high predictability factor comes in. I would have been more interested if Sam wasn’t in the room and Dean made that choice for Tina, not Sam. That would have been a bigger stretch in character. It would prove that Sam isn’t the only being on the planet that Dean is devoted to. I for once would love to see again Dean striving to be the hero, going with the notion that saving people is all that matters. It’s another missed opportunity that instead of going for bigger character growth, Adam Glass decided to energize the fan girl squee. Sorry Mr. Glass, I’m about squeed out.
So yeah, not bad at all. It beats me throwing superlatives at my TV all while chucking piece of foam at it like it were bricks. That was most of the first half of the season. I give “About A Boy” a B.
The Red Headed Monster
If you’re wondering about the title of this section, this was the name of my old personal blog. I used the blog to often speak my mind. “About a Boy” did expose one glaring problem with this season, and it just wouldn’t be me if my inner monster didn’t say something. Sam Winchester is in desperate need of a plot (please skip to the end not if you’re not interested and thank you for taking the tour).
In this episode, it hit you pretty much with a sledgehammer. What in the world do you do with Sam Winchester? His value in this ep proved nothing more than comic relief. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely howled at the bit of Dean pulling the seat up so far Sam’s knees were in his chest. Great gag! But again Sam was relegated to supporting player. That’s okay for a few episodes, but a whole season now? Given Dean’s headspace right now that supportive role is important, but is that the best they can do with his character? Sam’s pep talk at the beginning of the episode was good, but it all kind of fell flat from there.
I’m perplexed honestly. Why can’t these writers write for Sam? One of my favorite shows on TV right now is “The 100” (check out my reviews on our sister site TV For The Rest of Us. It’s the best written show on The CW). In last week’s episode, under a dizzying action adventure plot, they managed to run with no less than four significant character arcs and give those characters far more growth in a few short scenes than Sam has had all season now. They manage to run four plots at once brilliantly week in and week out. I don’t understand how “Supernatural” struggles with more than one. Is it lack of quality in the writers, or is there a true belief in that room that they’ve taken characterization as far as they can go? Usually when shows hit that point with a character, they kill off that character as a sweeps ploy. And when I mean kill off, I mean stay dead. Obviously, that can’t happen with Sam or Dean, but is no plot a better alternative?
How many times can Sam being knocked out or Sam being disabled by the bad guy (aka tied up) happen? Surely we’ve long passed a quota. I know someone has a count through the series and it has to be ridiculous. He’s the epic damsel in distress, and to quote Njspnfan from one of our recent threads, “It’s pathetic – Sam should just wear a protective helmet and drool bucket for the rest of the season.” I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the NFL won’t even tolerate this many knocks to the head!
So how does Sam get a plot? The common ploy used throughout the series is forcing a tense situation like Sam keeps a horrible secret from Dean or Dean keeps a horrible secret from Sam. It’s a very popular throwback. I suppose if one thing is good, that isn’t happening this year. The trouble is, nothing is happening this year. I love in the most recent episodes seeing Dean struggle with the Mark of Cain, but Sam’s supportive brother act has gone very stale. Why don’t they steal from other shows like “The Vampire Diaries” and Sam become a gate keeper for the other side, struggling with that while helping Dean juggle his issues (yes, bad example, but it sounds better than what we’re getting.) Character angst speaks volumes guys, but extreme character angst (one of Edlund’s greatest strengths) really makes a character come alive.
I’m afraid Ben Edlund was the last of the great Sam Winchester character writers (I weep when I think how much I miss him). This week didn’t even have Castiel and Crowley to deal with, but they still weren’t able to do much for one of the two leads. Before I spark a Sam vs. Dean war, I do recall issuing similar complaints about Dean in season eight. I’ve said this so many times it’s probably lost all meaning, but why can’t your two lead characters both get strong plots?
At least Sam did get a nice speech this week. “Look, man, do I wish the Mark was gone, yes of course, absolutely I do, but I wanted you back. Now here you are and you didn’t hulk out so I’ll take the win. As for the rest of it, the Mark, everything else, we’ll figure it out. We always do.” It was nice, sentimental, and it will be forgotten by next week. Why? Because we’re twisting to “Shake it Off.”
So, what do you think? Are the nice speeches and awkward faces working for you, or are you hoping for more? Or is Dean’s arc satisfaction enough?
Since I’m also the moderator of this site, I’m going to save myself some trouble and state the rules up front. I’m imploring good, civil behavior right now. Respect others, keep your arguments constructive, don’t attack others for their views, NO Sam vs. Dean (aka no building up Sam by knocking Dean and vice versa), and don’t repeat your same point over and over again. Once or twice is acceptable, but beyond that people just might not want to put up with your misery (even if that misery is very justified).
Thank you, now feel free to debate!
I’m a Sam girl, although I love them both, and honestly, I don’t get all the complaining about Sam not having a plot. I see him this season as strong and fighting for the thing that matters most to him – his brother. Right now that’s enough for me. I like seeing him sure of who he is (Dean’s brother) and what he wants (Dean with him). I think that’s refreshing after so many years of Sam being unsure, Sam being addicted, Sam soulless, Sam crazy, Sam trial-sick, and Sam possessed. I guess my thinking is that he deserves a break! I love the way the boys are talking and being honest; it makes me think they actually learned something from the events of last season and moved forward. I only watch 2 shows on tv, Supernatural & Criminal Minds, so I don’t think in terms of comparisons with other shows and characters. If that makes me a simple fan-girl, so be it. I’m enjoying season 10, and I’m loving Who Sam is right now.
I too am loving sam this season, though as a sam girl I’ve loved him since day one. 😀 I also think that sam has the most important plot of all this season…it’s sam that’s giving dean the strength he needs to fight his monster within and without sam, dean would be a demon right now. as always these boys keep ea. other human. In the state dean is in right now, Sam is literally his lifeline to humanity. I agree given that it was brought up in a article, sam will be experiencing his own journey in his quest to save his brother…so a little patience is all that’s required….so in the meantime i’m just going to enjoy the awesome story we are getting.
that being said, i thought sam said all the right things. he had faith in dean where dean didn’t have faith in himself. dean wanted to stay locked up in the bunker. sam got him to get to work. sam without thought had them splitting up..dean was scared to..but sam didn’t think anything of it…totally had faith in dean, which enabled dean to go on his own. dean was getting the crap being beat out of him, so sam saved him….sam got hurt,(not knocked out…more like he got the wind knocked out of him when he was thrown against those cabinets, but then who wouldn’t get a bit shell shocked after that:p)…which had dean, who was considering staying a kid, instead become himself again. he saved sam. they saved ea. other. more importantly, dean chose to fight for himself instead of taking the easy way out. because staying a kid wouldn’t resolve his basic problem of fighting the monster within. dean’s journey into demonhood is because of his inner monster, his inability to deal with facing who he is and why he goes to the extremes he does. staying a kid wouldn’t solve this basic problem, he’d just do it all over again. as bad as having the moc it, it’s necessary if dean is ever going to face his personal demons and conquer them. sam told dean he wanted his brother. if there was a single doubt that dean had regarding sam and him thinking that this was too much for sam…sam’s words obliterated those doubts. tina was the cherry on the sundae by telling dean “we all deserve second chances”. after sam’s speech, for the first time in 12 eps…dean smiled…and not only that…but he said he was back….he’s ready to fight for himself. so kudos to adam glass for giving dean his fighting spirit back….and using sam to do it….it was perfect….
and any time I get to hear a raunchy sam or dean is a treat in my book….
this episode might have been light with moments of humor, but as usual there was so much more being said here…..;)
I like how you described Sam’s role this season. I think this Sam seems really similar to the Sam we saw near the end of season 5, I loved him in “Point of no Return,” when he was so strong for Dean, continuing to believe in him way after Dean had given up. Sam’s belief in Dean then gave Dean what he needed to go on, ultimately leading to Sam sacrificing himself. I’ve been looking for that version of Sam ever since then, and I feel like maybe he’s found that part of himself again, after being not-himself for so long.
sugarhi15, and iamsam101, hi! I love how you guys are describing Sam this season. I’ve also likened him to the Sam in PONR. When everything was crumbling around him, when people were giving up left, right and centre, he stayed strong and wanted keep fighting, and that was awesome, and is still my favorite Sam episode. The difference though between that episode and the Sam we’re seeing now, I think is that I feel like I don’t really know how this is affecting him, outside of having him looking worried and upset for large portions of episodes. In PONR, Sam told Dean he couldn’t give up because he was white-knuckling it too, and he needed him. We saw how Sam freaked out when Dean disappeared, we saw how much it hurt him when Dean told him he didn’t trust him, and we were able to truly see the moment that Sam changed his mind about saying yes to Michael. Not just because Sam’s life needed to be saved, but because Dean couldn’t bear to disappoint him. It’s nice to see him being strong for Dean, but we’re also only really seeing him being strong [i]in front[/i] of Dean. So for me, not really knowing how Sam is being affected by Dean’s story, in addition to him not having his own story, i.e. something that affects him directly, is making Sam sort of fall away into the background for me. I like that he’s strong Sam, but I also want to see [i]Sam[/i], and not just Dean’s strength/inspiration.
You’re not alone in your thinking iamsam1013. I too feel the same way. I’m bibrother, I love them both equally, and I love Sam for being there for his brother while he is going through this very, very difficult time. Just as I’ve always loved Dean when he stood by Sam all the times he was going through his multiple trials and tribulations. I’m loving this season and I can’t wait to see what is next for Sam and Dean. Carry on wayward son indeed. 😉
I too am enjoying Sam be all about saving Dean from the MoC and that he is so supportive of Dean . I am also enjoying the fact that the boys are finally after all these years being straight with each other. I am also pretty tired of seeing Sam getting hit on the head basically every week and getting tied up or knocked out constantly. We all know Sam Winchester can kick some major ass yet he is bonked on the head , tied up or kidnapped every freaking week. Even on the rare occasion Dean is kidnapped he usually escapes on his own. What the hell writers ? This weeks episode was funny gave me warm fuzzies ect but also really predictable and I really wish something more would happen. I mean Crowley & Rowena I think she is an amusing character only because of how much fun the actress makes her but I am seriously hoping that the king of hell isn’t the big idiot he is pretending to be because I would basically loose all respect for Crowley and he is one of my all time favorites as he is so smart and wicked and deliciously snarky plus he has such a man crush on Dean it is adorable. As for Cass & kid I really am glad she went off on her own because I really was not feeling that story line.So while I think we have had a few really great episodes this year and actually no really bad episodes IMHO for the first time since since season 6 or 7 I am waiting for something more. Bring It
I’m not a Sam girl even though I do love the character but I am really loving Sam this season!!! Strong, smart, decisive, supportive, protective… Love that he is standing with his brother, keeping a watchful eye, not suffocating, giving Dean the support he needs. The scene where Cas was taking Metatron out of the dungeon room after Dean nearly killed him and Sam had his hand touching Deans chest guarding him…at the bar with the scum bag bartender… Badass Sammy for the win!!! Enjoyable episode, stayed on track, steady paced. Yeah, happy camper this weekend!!!!!
Since I’ve been blathering all over the place today I’ll just say I loved it. My second favorite episode of the year. I don’t enjoy seeing Sam get knocked down but even though he gets more than his fair share of knock downs I still thought he was great in the episode it so many ways. The way he took charge in the beginning and yanked Dean’s ass out of there. The way he slammed the guy down on the bar. The way he told Dean, I want my brother. This may be very optimistic but I think Sam will have a greater focus in the 2nd half. Thanks Alice.
I thought that Dean destroyed the spell to save all of them, not just Sam. If Dean hadn’t destroyed the hex bag they would have all been over powered and eaten. Sam was going to be turned into a child, too, so they would all be at a disadvantage to rescue themselves. The Dean ‘thing’ was that he gave up a chance to be without the MOC to save them from the witch by turning back into an adult. Just my take on it. And yes, they need to do something with Sam besides hit him on the head! While Sam had his major story arcs Dean was the narrator, telling the story by his reactions. Let Sam at least do that! Give the man some dialogue and reactions.
[quote] Sam was going to be turned into a child, too, so they would all be at a disadvantage to rescue themselves. [/quote]
Dean had the hex bag at that point.
I don’t think it’s canon now that Sam is at fault for Dean having the mark although it’s an interesting take on the episode. Dean did seem wistful when Tina got a chance to start over but Dean did what he had to do to win the fight. I did not see it as Dean doing some huge self-sacrifice or even as Dean putting others ahead of himself.
Great write up, Alice, and I’m right there with you … it had its problems, but damn it was entertaining! I genuinely laughed out loud, for the right reasons, a number of times.
It really did remind me of a good old, fun, Kripke-era monster of the week episode. The banter between the brothers was on point, the subtle reactions (Sam’s to Taylor Swift playing on the radio, and then his astonishment Dean didn’t switch it off accompanied by an insult).
I did have problems with it, and I won’t throw them all at Adam Glass’ feet as I feel most are endemic to season 10 as a whole (and 6, 7, 8, 9), but it was the first episode this season I’ve been able to watch a second time through with more praise then complaints. As much as I enjoyed it on initial view, that enjoyment didn’t diminish with the second viewing. Not something I’ve said about any episode this season.
Dylan Everett (young Dean) knocked it out of the park. He’s a 20 year old playing a 14 year old, and I never questioned it.
I’m interested in the Grand Coven. Whilst I also have zero interest in Rowena, I do enjoy the fact she has other people after her. Perfect time for Sam to do some [i]Men of Letters-ing[/i] and dig up some info. I enjoy the show discovering unheard of creatures/myths/lore, unfortunately since the death of Bobby, it’s usually handled hastily and a little too procedural for my tastes (as are the resolutions to those subjects), which is my biggest gripe with the show at the moment, outside of sidecar-Sam.
Well, isn’t it possible that the coven is going to play into Sam’s storyline? They have just had confirmation that a powerful witch can removed the mark and the witches powerful enough to do it are theirs. What do they want – Rowena.
Is it possible Sam going dark would be him aiming to find Rowena to deliberately trade her for the coven removing the mark, because he is slowly getting more and more desperate about his fears of losing the Dean he knows. I’m saying that because he’s gone from saying Dean can control the mark to saying they will find a way because they always do. I know last weeks was as much to bolsters Dean’s self esteem but this week felt more about a small sense of desperation crawling in for Sam himself because says he needs Dean as is. If that is the case, it kind of ties into what Sam did with Lester, because right now he can say he didn’t deliberately make Lester make the deal, he just wanted have Lester to get him the demon and he yelled No when Lester made the deal. But if he deliberately hands over Rowena for punishment to get what he wants when he doesn’t know or care about her supposed ‘crime’?
Plus that could also tie into Crowley’s storyline, because her being manipulative or not, wanting Dean calm or not, would Crowley willing stand by and let his mother be handed over to some punishment after spending time with her? And if Sam did do that what revenge would Crowley be willing to unleash and would it, in terms of the Winchester logic, be completely undeserved?
As for Dean, yes like you I liked the bit in the bar. It felt more like Dean letting off steam with no baggage or dwelling on things unlike when he has previously been trying to keep clean. But I think he was able to do that because there was no price to pay when he shared stories with Tina unlike with Sam and Cas, who he feels he has to confirm that he is trying. Plus I kind of felt that Dean going for the hex bag was more to do with teenage Dean being thrown around like a rag doll and needing his adult body to stand a chance. I say that because Dean used the hex bag to silence the witch rather than just using what the mark gives him to withstand her attacks. It felt he was more in control of himself when he faced the witch, because he was not only protecting people but he had been able to connect himself to what he was protecting as himself as he’d been able to give himself a time out in the bar that wasn’t dragged down by the weight of everything else he was feeling, something he hasn’t been able to do in a while. Now I am getting this out here now. That is not a criticism of Sam, that is saying that Dean has self esteem issues and feels he has to prove himself to his brother and didn’t have the same baggage when it came to Tina.
But basically, I liked the episode as it felt a lot less anvil heavy/public service announcement than last weeks accept yourself and get balance episode, even if it did have the special guest star of the week. Because Mrs Patmore (Nicol) rocks so much harder than Felicia Day and is the second Downtown alum on that has been on this show.
Now I will go put my tin hat on and hide.
[quote]They have just had confirmation that a powerful witch can removed the mark and the witches powerful enough to do it are theirs.[/quote]
Wait… what!? Rowena can remove the mark? was that really said explicitly? Or was it implied that witches know how to remove the MoC at some point? I must have missed that part. What scene was this? Actually if this is true then I’ll be even more disappointed in the lack luster MoC story… a 300 year old witch can remove a millennium old mark created by lucifer himself? How easily convenient THAT would be. So why didn’t Cain just go get rid of it centuries ago then rather than inflicting it and it’s lukewarm effects on Dean?
[quote]and it’s lukewarm effects on Dean?[/quote]
Haha! So true.
This MOC story is so uneventful and boring to me. They need to raise the stakes by like 1000 notches! I actually don’t even see a problem w/the MOC. Dean seems to be able to control it or stop when someone shouts for him to stop so what’s the problem?
There is not one , they want the best of both world’s. Dean have the MOC but not really endanger people’s perception’s of him so they will not do a Sam on him.
[quote]Wait… what!? Rowena can remove the mark? was that really said explicitly? Or was it implied that witches know how to remove the MoC at some point?[/quote]
Fourteen year old Dean didn’t have the mark due to his 14 year old self not having the mark. But he was not his true 14 year old self, his mind was adult. Does that mean if he stayed in a teenage body and grew the 36 year old body would regain the mark – who knows?
But the transformation spell he was exposed to had the unintended consequence of making a fully aware Dean free of the mark at that point. That is being explicitly said.
Is it possible to use a transformation spell to completely free Dean of it? But it has explicitly opened that door. Who is powerful enough to do that? Witches from the grand coven and Rowena was one as they have been told by the witch last night. So either Rowena herself maybe able to do it and is open to do it if given incentive or she could be the price the coven asks for doing the deed.
Is it a good idea probably not as I think Dean has to save himself and if Sam goes that road it is more for his own self growth with regard to having to face what limits he has to push after his declarations of the past two seasons. But is this an avenue a desperate Sam could take – yes it is.
As for Cain? How do I know? Maybe because he feels guilty so he doesn’t want to? Maybe there is consequences? Maybe because he is a demon he can’t and he is way past the cure stage to become human again since he has been a demon since about the dawn of creation, seeing how Cas has said the mark is from then.
So then, they just find a witch (i.e. Rowena) who could transform/transport Dean into his thirty-whatever-he-was body before he got the MOC? Problem Solved? 😀
How convenient. I really hope that the MoC requires them to do something more than THAT.
Oh yeah, me too. If it’s not hard won, then I’m not sure what the point is. But they have sort of opened up that avenue now with this episode, so I don’t know.
Makes no sense to have Dean de-aged to rid him of the mark, if Rowena is powerful enought to do that why cant she just transfer the mark to herself?
Hi ParadiseHeat
I think I was being a bit facetious with that comment, really. 😉 I mean, we’ve already seen a witch with the power to not only de-age Dean, but do it in such a way that he no longer has the Mark. And the problem with that was that he’d have to stay a teenager to keep it gone, right? So I’m like, well, if being a teenager was the problem, why not just de-age him to before he had the Mark? So it’s not a problem of [i]removing[/i] the Mark, but taking him back to before it existed.
Seriously, though, I highly doubt that that will be the solution to the problem, and I’d be very disappointed if it was because that has cop-out written all over it. :p
I hope not PaintedWolf, what a let down that would be… to put Rowena of all people on a par with Lucifer and Cain? She hasn’t earned that. I wouldn’t even believe that of Crowely and I like him MUCH better than I like Rowena. She’s a baffoon, I can’t take her seriously. In some ways I’m actually feeling a bit sorry for Jensen; they simply refuse to take any chances with Dean’s character and therefore all plot points regarding him fall completely flat leaving Jensen nothing to do, nothing to explore. At least when it’s Sam they actually ‘go there’ (althought lately? Not so much.) I know that this upsets people, but you can’t accuse the writers of being terminally conervative with his character, that’s for sure. Such an intersting idea as the MoC being squandered because of a fear of making Dean look bad. Currently he doesn’t look like anything. The mark may as well not even be on him it’s made so little difference to his life. He was a demon for a hot minute where he did…. *gasp*…. absolutely nothing unmarked Dean wouldn’t have done. The mark makes him angst and feel bad for everything, which is no different than at any other time since season 1. Why does he even have it again? To somehow force him to explore his issues? Well if he WAS exploring his isses then I could maybe see the point of this lack luster bore fest. but he isn’t, at least not so far and I am growing tired of waiting. As lala has so acurately noted, Dean seems to be controling the mark just fine. When Sam says stop, he stops. When Claire says stop, he stops. He only kills low lifes and demons. His most questionable act was beating the crap out of Dark Charlie and I could have seen him doing that even without the mark because A) she was evil, and B) she was beating the crap out of him first. I didn’t see the mark as pushing him all that much and I didn’t see it making him impossible to control himself. He stopped himself pretty well. How is WISH they would so SOMETHING with this story; it’s as compelling as watching beige paint dry.
I don’t think this would put Rowena on the same par as Lucifer and Cain.
What I am saying is that introducing the Grand Coven to the boys in this manner feels like a case of Chekhov’s gun. Why introduce the premise that a transformation spell from a witch of the Grand Coven can remove the mark (even possibly temporarily) if they aren’t attempting to tie the Rowena and Crowley storyline to the boys storyline which is the mark this season.
If that is the case what would bring the conflict, either using Rowena to attempt to remove it or the boys using Rowena as payment to get another witch to do so.
It would also tie into the idea of people being monsters – witches for their problems are the closest monsters to humans. They start out humans, they either learn their magic, borrow their magic or are born with it, each way they chose to practice. Take Rowena’s magic away from her and the same with every other witch we’ve seen then they become human even if they are very old.
I’m going to say first that I enjoyed this episode. I enjoyed the banter between the brothers and I thought Dylan Everett and the two actors who played Tina were great and believable. It fills good to have the brothers on the same page again and being more honest with each other. That said, I don’t see a whole lot of plot for any character on the show. Sam is the supportive brother and gets knocked out every episode, Dean grabs his arm a lot and tries to control the MOC only to go berserk the last 5 minutes and is back to being referred to as an alcoholic. Cas, a once powerful warrior of heaven, is an inept joke who screws up everything he does and apparently Crowley is a rube who is becoming as pitiful as Cas. There is no edge of your seat, OMG, what’s going to happen next myth arc or plot for anyone, not just Sam.
All that being said I saw this week’s episode as a win because I was at least entertained and enjoyed the acting and the brother’s easy banter. I liked that Dean saw Sam as his support and his stone number one and Sam was all that for him.
[quote]So how does Sam get a plot? The common ploy used throughout the series is forcing a tense situation like Sam keeps a horrible secret from Dean or Dean keeps a horrible secret from Sam. It’s a very popular throwback. I suppose if one thing is good, that isn’t happening this year. The trouble is, nothing is happening this year. I love in the most recent episodes seeing Dean struggle with the Mark of Cain, but Sam’s supportive brother act has gone very stale. Why don’t they steal from other shows like “The Vampire Diaries” and Sam become a gate keeper for the other side, struggling with that while helping Dean juggle his issues (yes, bad example, but it sounds better than what we’re getting.) Character angst speaks volumes guys, but extreme character angst (one of Edlund’s greatest strengths) really makes a character come alive. [/quote]I would even take sam getting a lions share of guest star interactions.
[quote]I get that Dean made that decision to grab the hex bag, become an adult and rescue Sam. Geez, we’ve only seen that roughly 200 times now. We get it. Naturally it’s the Dean Winchester thing to do. That’s where the high predictability factor comes in. I would have been more interested if Sam wasn’t in the room and Dean made that choice for Tina, not Sam. That would have been a bigger stretch in character. It would prove that Sam isn’t the only being on the planet that Dean is devoted to. I for once would love to see again Dean striving to be the hero, going with the notion that saving people is all that matters. It’s another missed opportunity that instead of going for bigger character growth, Adam Glass decided to energize the fan girl squee. Sorry Mr. Glass, I’m about squeed out. [/quote]
I don’t get why you wrote the line “It would prove that Sam isn’t the only being on the planet that Dean is devoted to.”?? I may not be able to put my thought right but really is that necessary to prove? We know this show is about the brothers. More than that looking out for Sam is who Dean is. He always have and always will do that. And it’s not like Dean didn’t want to save Tina or doesn’t care about others for that matter. Sam himself said “I know you did to save me. And Tina.” And anyway even if Dean did it only to save Sam, is that bad? Dean is devoted to Sam and vice versa. Why you want them to prove more? I don’t know. But that whole para sounded wrong to me.
And about Sam not getting storyline…. the whole Kripke era and even after that, till the Mark of Cain storyline, had Sam on the frontline. Jensen has said that. Dean had arc too, I am not denying. But it was more about Sam. He had different versions to play etc. And at that time Dean was in role of looking out for Sam or be just comic relief sometimes. I mean second half of season 8 was all about that only. Dean being caring and supporting, cheering his brother from sidelines like he always do and always will. So now Dean’s arc is more focused and Sam is doing supporting(and he’s doing good job of it, isn’t he?). So what? It’s not like they have completely sidelined him. Season hasn’t ended yet. I agree that writers should be able to run both the leads’ arcs at same time. Sadly, it’s not the case. But why is it bothering so much that Sam doesn’t have strong arc? Is it because Sam isn’t getting any version to play? And what if maybe what they’re showing is Sam’s arc. Jared has said that we’ll be seeing season 1 Sam which we love. Which you love.
I haven’t written this as Dean vs. Sam thing. I am a Dean girl through and through, i admit. But i do not intend to anger anyone.
You are not upsetting anyone but Jensen also said the show was Dean centric so take it with a pinch of salt. Dean has been on the frontline as well he is the primary pov character it has not been like he has been short of plot, focus or characters to interact with the only difference was he did not have the mytharc which has now be rectified . I was not desperate for supportive Sam he has never needed to prove that for me and especially a supportive sl role that was born out of last season, but if they are going to do that I do not need a oak tree but a fleshed out character interacting and pro-ctive and not falling down everytime someone breathes on him. Give Dean the mytharc , give Sam a solid visable pov .
Generally speaking, I don’t think Dean girls and Sam girls are ever going to come together on this point. I’ve heard over and over about Jensen not getting the mytharc and how the show was all about Sam, and as a Sam girl, I never felt that way. In fact, since season 4, I’d say the show was pretty much about stuff happening to Sam and how Dean feels about it. Until now. Now, it’s about stuff happening to Dean and how Dean feels about it, and Sam being there trying to help him fix it. And honestly, I will take this over last year. At least they’re on the same page, being honest with each other and we’re getting some brother moments. I can’t think of one episode that I want to rewatch from last year after Sam kicked out Gadreel. Watching Dean angst in such large doses is not my cup of tea. I don’t think it does his character any favors.
I was thinking about it this morning, and I guess it just felt like, in the first three seasons, that they SHARED the plotlines. Season one, the search for their father. Season two, the special children. Season three, keeping Dean from going to hell. They had their individual episodes and feelings, but the actual PLOTLINE was theirs together. That stopped in season 4, and by doing that, they divided the fandom in the same way. I guess you could say that they’ve finally brought it back together this season in that the plotline is the MOC, but they haven’t quite managed to bring the writing back. But I’ve sort of resigned myself to taking what I get with regards to Sam. Jared does what he can with what they give him, and I guess I’m a Pollyanna because, I still have hope that he’ll have something important to do this season.
As I said, I’m just speaking generally. I’ve read several posts from professed Dean girls who miss Sam too.
Hi Sharon, are you referring to that unfortunate phone interview? If so Jensen actually said the show was Sam-centric. He also said some other stuff where he sounded like he was channeling Dean.
No I was not I have actually never listened to that particular interview but have heard things about it. No it was something he said in a M&G.
Oh ok, then he is contradicting himself or he just likes to add the word centric to their names.:D
I would disagree about your assessment of the post-Kripke era, particularly the Carver era. S8 started out with a well written and strong purgatory arc for Dean. And Sam hit a dog and ended up with Amelia; not sure what he ever did to piss off the writers to deserve that but that story really, really sucked. In addition, we got absolutely no context for why Sam didn’t look for Dean. We were told Sam thought Dean was dead but has that ever really stopped one of the brothers before?
The second half of S8 was about Sam and the trials and Dean became Sam’s caretaker. In S9, we had the Sam angel possession arc, followed by Dean taking on the MoC. S10 has been a continuation of Dean’s MoC arc.
I won’t speak for everyone here, just myself, but I think the show does its best work when both brothers are actively engaged in the story, whether it be the two of them together or as separate stories. I thought what they did with Dean for the second half of S8 was awful, and said as much in my comments. Now granted, Dean did not always have an arc in the Kripke era, but the show is told primarily from his POV so he was actively engaged in the story. And even when Sam had the story arc, such as the demon blood thing in S4, much of that played out in the background – you knew something was going on but didn’t find out about the demon blood thing until late in the season.
With S10 and the MoC arc, and the show told primarily from Dean’s POV, with him doing most of the interacting with other characters on the show, that doesn’t leave Sam with much to do. Yes, it’s nice that he is being supportive and steadfast in his belief that Dean will overcome the MoC, but I don’t think that’s befitting for one of the leads of the show, just as I thought Dean being Sam’s nursemaid in the second half of S8 did a terrible disservice to Dean as a character.
The second half of season 8 is greatly exaggerated as the ‘Dean Nursemaid era’ imo
episode 11-Dean plays dress up with Charlie, Sam investigates the case in the background
12-Dean has the bulk of the interaction with Grandpa Winchester
13-MOTW both brothers get storyline, slightly more about Sam who realises he is a MOL
14-The frist Trail, the episode is Dean centric but Sam takes the trials at the end
15-the dog slave episode, MOTW episode neither bro centric, 1 mention of the the trials as Sam knows Dean wanted to take the trials and Dean emo’s about having wanted to take the trials and not wanting Sam to have done, Sam coughs up blood in the last scene
16-Clash of the Titans-MOTW-both bros involved, Sam coughs up blood and tells Dean he is ok
17-Goodbye Stranger-Cas centic, Dean and Cas angst, Cas and Meg flirt, Sam and Meg have a nice scene, Crowley involved, Dean finds out about Sam’s sickness from Cas then confronts Sam about it
18-The Dean and Chrissy show, Sam is wrong about the monster and probably coughs up more blood?
19-The second trial- Sam goes to save Bobby from hell (who then tells Sam he was wrong for not looking for Dean), Dean has interaction with Kevin and then has to save Sam by killing Benny (which is the writiers attempt at Sam bashing) btoh bros equally involved in diff ways
20-Dean and Charlie, Sam gets some good stuff too. Both bros are equally involved
21-Sam centric/Cas centric episode (notice how they usually share), Sam and Dean find Metatron, Cas on the run from Niomi. Dean is viewed as a nursemaid because he cares about Sam’s wellbeing. One of the very few episodes in the past few season to be more Sam than Dean.
22-Sam and Dean take on Crowley, Dean is with Sam all the time has more lines with Crowley, Sam has more with Sarah. Dean reassures Sam that they can do this. Metatron and Cas have the other half of the episode.
23-Sam/Cas centric-Cas is tricked into closing the gates of heaven by Met, Niomi involvment, Sam attemps to cure Crowley of his demoness, Dean is support for Cas and has a nice moment with Sam at the end of the episode
There was less Dean in maybe 3 episodes
ParadiseHeat – i brought the Dean nurse-maid thing up because that is the usual counter argument to what is happening now. Since the show is told primarily from Dean’s POV, Dean will have plenty to do in each episode, whether the mytharc involves him or not.
Great job with this description. I never considered Dean as just a nursemaid in Season 8 and wouldn’t have even thought of it unless it hadn’t been brought up by other posters. It’s almost like, because Sam actually had some POV at the end of season 8, all of the sudden Dean didn’t have anything to do. It’s circular argument, I suppose. They complain that Dean was just a supporting character because he didn’t do the trials and we say that Sam is just a supporting character because Dean has the MOC. I don’t think anyone’s mind is going to be changed. But I think you did a great job of showing the difference between what’s happening now as to what was happening then. The writing for each of them supports the view. Every bad guy and good guy in this show will spout off about Dean’s Daddy issues, and his inner loathing and his self sacrificing, etc…. but the only thing anybody brings up about Sam is his how he let Lucifer out and what a screw up he is. I’m thinking of that hunter chick in “Devil May Care” that they ran into and of course, Castiel in “First Born”. Those are just two recent examples. Sigh…..I’m depressing myself.
Yes, yes 1000 times yes. I as going to make this EXACT same reply! Same examples and everything. Dean was never relegated to nursemaid beyond that one scene in ONE episode, that one glorious episode that we got a shred, a teeny, tiny spec of Sam insight. The fandom nearly imploded with nursemaid and cheerleader Dean comments. Dean has never and I mean NEVER been sidelined story and POV wise the way Sam has since season 8.
Your post was a great. A good rebuttal to my question. You certainly didn’t anger me! Thanks for commenting.
Nice review, Alice – I did enjoy this episode more upon re-watch. Dylan Everett did a great job as teen Dean – he really took the time to get all of Dean’s mannerisms down and has done for younger Dean what Colin Ford did for younger Sam. The actresses that played adult and teen Tina did a good job. Always like it when they take some time developing these secondary characters, as opposed to the angel and demon automatons we’ve been getting the past couple of seasons. I still think Adam Glass writes very awkward and clunky dialog at times, though.
It does sound as though witches and the grand coven will play in to the second half arc. Haven’t been a big fan of Rowena up to now but taking a wait and see approach on that.
As far as the whole Sam thing, he really hasn’t had much of a story since the end of S8. The angel possession arc was designed to get Dean in to a mindset to take on the Mark of Cain. The after effects of the possession were either whitewashed or ignored. I do agree with your assessment that Ben Edlund was the last of the character writers for Sam, though Jeremy Carver can do it in the season opener and ender when he sets his mind to it. So the big question is – what does the show do with Sam? Carver’s preseason proclamation that “the brothers will question who the real monster is” proved to be a red herring. I’ll save him the time and write his pre-Season 11 spiel –
“Sam will be in Season 11, too! And he won’t be incapacitated or knocked unconscious in the first part of the season – this is a big step forward in character development for Sam, a juicy and emotional story arc that will play out in the background while Dean, Cas, and Crowley’s arcs play out on screen.”
Sorry for the sarcasm but that’s all that’s left when it comes to this topic. Carver has decided on a 3 year story arc, now 4 years with the announcement of Season 11, and has either run out of ideas on how to incorporate one of the leads in to the story, or it’s just not important to him. And as long as the ratings remain consistent, they’re not going to change course. It was alarming when Carver said they’re going to “accordion out” the story line to span thru Season 11; the Mark of Cain story just hasn’t been that strong or compelling so far; it started out strongly but has floundered of late; we’re already getting a lot of repeat of what went on in the second half of Season 9 with the only difference being that this season Sam is steadfast and resolute in his support of Dean. I hope that the upcoming episode with Cain really kicks this season in the ass.
Njspnfan I think you hit the nail on the head. It isn’t so much that Sam has no story, neither one has had much of a story. Dean might be the focus of the first half with Sam being in a supportive role but nothing is really happening. And Carver (if he is still with the show next season) has stated (and Jensen as well) that there is no rush to tell the MOC story, they can stretch it out into next season and beyond. So we have endless fillers and pointless sl’s for Castiel and Crowley that don’t seem to be going anywhere. Alice has used the 100 as an example of writing for an ensemble cast but SPN isn’t an ensemble cast. As popular as Cas and Crowley are their stories don’t seem to resonate unless they directly affect the brothers. This is a show about two brothers and unless their story is front and center I don’t see how it will work in the long run. That doesn’t mean that they have to be in every scene of every episode but the brothers story should be driving the narrative for the other characters. I know that Carver is a fan of the long slow reveal but the problem with that is you end up losing a portion of the audience when nothing much is happening. There doesn’t have to be a big bad or a season arc but the story still needs to focus on Sam and Dean.
And I agree a note to the writers….if you can’t get Sam out of a scene without knocking him out or tying him up just don’t have him in the scene. This show has to be based in some form of reality and severe head trauma is a rather serious condition.
The ironic thing about this is the writers and producers dont even think about the seriousness of all the head trauma (not to mention that the supposed 2nd best hunter on the planet is incompetant and has to be saved every week – by teenagers no less) and yet they seem to obsess about the legnth of Sams hair…cause you know…its unrealistic for an FBI agent to have long hair.
The problem is that although neither brother seems to have any kind of real or compelling story at the moment we get to see how Dean feels about it while with Sam we don’t.
Only thing I have to say is:
[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mv1k6NcQgYQ#t[/video]
Your welcome and don’t kill me Alice. 😀
PS: I really did like the episode. Brothers, music and quest stars hit the mark for me.
– Lilah
That’s great! I just put that on the video page. Too priceless and very appropriate.
LilahK – Great vid! Thanks!
Lilah you beat me to it!
I’ve been championing Sam all season to be the one who saves Dean, who becomes the reason he fights off the effects of the Mark, but I’m finding it difficult to enjoy the requisite “you can do this, Dean” pep talk every episode. True, Sam does say “we”, but there doesn’t seem to be much “we” in it. I really don’t want to have to watch more of the same every week (is Sam even helping Dean with the MOC research anymore?), only to maybe, [i]possibly[/i], have Sam swoop in and save the day 30 minutes into the season finale. Last week, as much as I loved the episode, Sam got taken down by the MOTW, so good Charlie could have her bit of character development, now this episode he gets taken down by the MOTW so Dean could have his bit of character development. The more this kind of thing happens, the more Sam is going to feel like (if he doesn’t already) a character whose only purpose is to serve the development of every other character on the show, which is horribly disappointing (and a great disservice) considering how awesome he is in his own right. I love this show and I always will, but the rollercoaster of yeah, that was awesome, or yeah I loved that but I can’t ignore this or that glaring issue, to yeah, I really don’t like any of this at all what happened to my show?, is becoming kind of unsettling. There’re things I’ve enjoyed in every episode (ok, not every episode). I loved the way Dylan Everett portrayed Dean. Thought the witch was interesting enough. But it’s hard to really enjoy that enjoyment when you’re waiting for the real action to start or for a character you love to do more than look worried an entire episode, or when you’re sitting thinking about how much you don’t care about a certain story or plot point. Wasn’t there a whole thing of the Mark about Cain [i]and[/i] Abel? Why can’t Sam find out that there’s some big part that he has to play or is already playing in getting rid of the Mark that affects him directly and not just as Dean’s cheerleader? Maybe we’ll be finding something like that out later, but surely it shouldn’t take more than half a season before one of the two lead characters actually gets a proper part to play in the mytharc? Even Cas and Crowley have more story than Sam does.
[quote] I love in the most recent episodes seeing Dean struggle with the Mark of Cain, but Sam’s supportive brother act has gone very stale. Why don’t they steal from other shows like “The Vampire Diaries” and Sam become a gate keeper for the other side, struggling with that while helping Dean juggle his issues (yes, bad example, but it sounds better than what we’re getting.) [/quote]
Maybe they should just have Sam trapped in some other dimension. The veil would seem to be a less suitable option. Or Gavin could cause the timeline getting screwed up. In any case, both Sam and Dean would know that they had been separated (so the storyline would not end up just making Sam look worse for not having looked for Dean when Dean had been in Purgatory) and both would work towards finding a solution. Maybe Dean would have to beat the mark in order to be reunited with Sam. Sam would have something interesting going on on the other side, he wouldn’t just be waiting to be rescued like some Disney princesses. Thus, Sam would have a story despite being off-screen more often. That way the character could be protected from the writers lacking interest in him.
The brotherly bond could still be in effect if Dean found life hard without Sam, there could be some communication à la 2.01 [i] In My Time of Dying[/i], some never-before-seen flashbacks etc.
The ideal solution would, however, be Sam and Dean together as brothers and as hunters and as two main characters of [i] Supernatural[/i].
I just got a chance to watch the episode and i was seriously worried about Sam’s role. I’m not sure how I feel. I dont think I share the concerns about Sam I’ve been reading. Sure….Sam doesn’t seen to be researching…but Deans research montage…..Sam said Dean was going over and over the exact same lore that they hadn’t found answers in. So basically Dean is spinning his wheels so to speak.
Also Sam ‘useless’ in the battle against the witch and Hansel. I’m on the fence. He didn’t seem to have hit the wall THAT hard for him to be so woozy. BUT…he wasn’t knocked unconcious and TinyDean was consistantly getting slammed against the wall. I think ALL he could do it is grab the hex bag. It kind of made sense to me.
What did frustrate me to no end though was Dean eating the cake from an unknown entity. Seriously its kid 101. Rule #1. DON”T take candy/food from strangers. It shouldn’t take Sam or a civilian to point out that unknown food could be poisonous or drugged. I wish show would make a point that Dean (and other hunters) are alive during the Leviathon era because Sam sent out an APB about the fructose.
S
ince it takes two to have a brotherly bond and Sam was actually saying and doing more then looking worried, I actually felt their relationship this episode. The writing for Sam completely surprised me in a good way since we still have no evidence Sam will be involved in saving Dean. I still beleive Sam will be sent out for pie and coffee while Deans (writers professed) real and better brothers (and sister) Benny, Cas, Crowly and Charlie get the save.
I haven’t read the comments, so I apologize in advance if I am repeating other’s thoughts.
I had the same gutter feeling when this was revealed to be a de-aged Dean story written by Glass. I absolutely hated Bad Boys with the passion of a thousand suns. As it turned out, I found this to be the best episode of the season to date.
I do disagree with you about Dean only saving Tina and not Sam. I think Dean absolutely had to save Sam and Sam absolutely had to back up his feelings of faith in Dean with words; and in order to show that sincerity, Dean had to save Sam.
I am loving Sam this season, and I will briefly explain why. Sam has made bad choices since the Pilot; but more than that, I found Sam’s actions in S8 and S9 intolerable, and I could not understand why the writers were taking Sam’s character even further down and without any logical explanations. I now think that this was done on purpose; that Sam had to be taken lower and then see Dean die, which was a real jolt to his character. Now the writers are building Sam back up, and no only building him back up, but building him in a very Sam-like way. He is being being more than supportive; he is being Dean’s other side of the coin when Dean is clearly freaking out because he has lost total control over his life (he thinks). I like seeing Sam standing beside Dean, steady as a rock, encouraging Dean, dragging him out of the bunker, and assuring him that he wants Dean to be Dean. I don’t think there is a better way to redeem Sam, and I don’t think there is any better way for Sam to handle Dean. Dean doesn’t care about his own life and will willingly sacrifice that life for anyone, but it is only Sam that he truly listens to and truly loves more than his own life.
Besides, I don’t want Sam to be a rewrite of Dean. We know Sam is a top-shelf hunter, and what I needed to see after S8 and S 9 is that Sam is a good brother. That is what I see Sam doing this season, and I think it is a very important role, not only for Sam’s character, but for Dean’s, too.
I don’t have a clue where the writers are going to take this season, but I hope they don’t screw it up by having Sam make more bad decisions, or have Sam go dark and Dean, once again, having to save Sam. That would ruin the season for me. The other thing I hope is that now that the focus is [b]finally[/b] on the Winchesters, it stays there. I don’t give a short hoot for the stories surrounding Rowena, Crowley, Cas, Claire, or any of the string of teenagers they are dragging through the show this season. [i]What is up with all the danged teenagers anyway?[/i]
While I love reading the articles and comments on this site, this is only my 2nd post. But I feel compelled to respond to the observations about Sam’s role on the show. While Sam is my favorite character, I am first and foremost a “Sam and Dean” fan. I long for the episodes/seasons where both brothers had a story arc (whether emotional or otherwise) that actually did justice to their characters. There really is no argument that Dean has the primary POV on SPN. Even Kripke made that clear when he flat out stated in an interview “sorry Sam fans but I consider Dean the hero of the show.” And that showed through sometimes in the 1st 5 seasons. Kripke also said it was a disservice to Sam’s character that Season 2 only really explored Dean’s reaction to John’s death. Nonetheless, Kripke created a show about TWO brothers and we got lots of Sam POV as well. Although I agree with the post that said things changed somewhat in Season 4, in which much of Sam’s story took place off-screen. So even though Dean got the main POV there was enough Sam to keep me happy. And that continued under Sera Gamble because she clearly loved Sam as well as Dean and we got lots of Sam POV (once he stopped being soulless). Everything changed under Carver, which I find baffling because he wrote some of my favorite episodes displaying wonderful Sam POV- Mystery Spot, A Very SPN Xmas, Free To Be You And Me, and many others. But as a showrunner he began a story arc in which Sam has mostly become a plot point to service Dean’s storyline. And the worst of it is that, while Dean is essentially the same character as Season 1 Dean, Sam’s character has been butchered, starting with the atrocious story line where Sam didn’t look for Dean in Purgatory, which was so OOC to Mystery Spot Sam that I’m still angry about it. I admit that I loved the brotherly relationship in the 2nd half of Season 8 and I enjoyed many of the episodes. But anyone who thinks Dean was relegated to being a nursemaid for episodes on end was watching a different show than I was. Because Season 8 also started the whole trend of Sam having few interactions with anyone other than Dean (and maybe Cas). This is puppy dog, sensitive Sam and suddenly most of the writers seemed to decide that only Dean is capable of having meaningful conversations with the guest stars while Sam conveniently goes to load the car or whatever. I have concluded that almost all of the current writers simply aren’t interested in writing Sam. Again, one exception is Carver, who wrote one of my all-time favorite scenes, at the end of Sacrifice, in which we get fantastic POV from both brothers. And Season 9 began promisingly, with some more great POV from both brothers. The scene between Sam and Death showed the Sam of old, determined that no more people be hurt because of him. And we got the Dean I love, who puts Sam before anything else, even if it means making a terrible decision in the process. Then came the next enormously OOC storyline for Sam- his reaction to the whole Gadreel possession. Instead of having Sam confront Dean with the many compelling reasons why what Dean did was a betrayal of Sam, the writers went with the whole “we’re not brothers” story line and decided to make Sam as unsympathetic as possible, to drive Dean’s downward spiral. The entire 2nd half of Season 9 presented Sam as a jerk and Dean as victim. WTF? No matter how mad Sam was at Dean he never would have said he didn’t want to be brothers. It was Sam who instantly (and more so than Dean) forgave all of Cas’s betrayals of the brothers in Season’s 6,7 and 8. We got no sympathetic explanation of Sam’s feelings until the last episode (by Carver, of course). All we got was a Sam who is now apparently the most inept hunter on the planet, showing none of the smarts or toughness of the original character. The only time Sam showed a glimpse of that old Sam was when he was apart from Dean, in Mother’s Little Helper. The use of the taped exorcism was brilliant. Yep, they probably let Sam save himself because they couldn’t figure out how Dean could do it long distance. Which brings us to this season. I admit I really liked the first few episodes because we got a good story for both brothers-Demon Dean and Mystery Spot Sam. And I loved Ep. 200,( except for the obligatory scene of Dean bonding with the girl- who is a Sam girl no less!- while Sam is off doing who knows what) But once the brothers were together again, it’s been back in the same rut of inept Sam ( saved by Dean, Sheriff Hanscom and Dean, Charlie, Teen Dean) whose only role is seemingly now to look/sound concerned, and MOC Dean. I love that the brothers are together, and that Sam is all about supporting Dean, but there have been episodes where Sam got not one meaningful line of dialogue. Why hasn’t there been any conversation between the brothers in which Sam uses his past experiences with demon blood, being possessed, etc to help Dean fight the MOC? And I don’t think Dean is faring much better. As frustrating and boring as it is to watch Jared do as much as he can with the few lines he’s given, it’s getting just as boring watching Dean angst over the MOC. How many times can we watch him rub his arm and look troubled? I simply can’t believe that they’re dragging this storyline out for almost 2 seasons, and maybe more. I desperately hope that Sam plays the instrumental role in ridding Dean of the MOC, and maybe displays some of his long-dormant brains in doing so. I watch this show for Sam and Dean, pure and simple. And having Sam be essentially a supporting character is really depressing. I can forgive the lack of a more exciting story arc, but I cannot forgive the fact that one of the 2 main characters has been sidelined. Sorry this is so long, but what they’re doing (or not doing) with Sam makes me really sad.
Brava samandean10. I agree with every word. Not only has Sam basically disappeared as a character on this show, his past, his character traits have been cannibalized to re-write Dean’s past to make him “cooler” and more of a rebel I guess. The lack of attention paid to the show’s own past is appallingly bad. Last I heard SAM was the one who hated the hunting life and was looking for a way out, SAM was the rebellious one, SAM was the one always going against John, SAM was the precocious kid who figured out what his family did all by himself. But now, out of the blue suddenly it’s Dean who wants out, wants normal, was rebellious, goes against John? While Sam sits around dutifully in motel after motel watching John and Dean fight? Huh? How I wish these writers would go have a re-watch and get their facts straight. Welcome. 😀
Don’t apologize for your post being long because it’s absolutely perfect. I agree with every word. Thanks for posting it, and I hope you post more.
Thanks Alice. I always look forward to reading your episode reviews.
[quote] Even Kripke made that clear when he flat out stated in an interview “sorry Sam fans but I consider Dean the hero of the show.”[/quote]:(When was this?[quote] I desperately hope that Sam plays the instrumental role in ridding Dean of the MOC, and maybe displays some of his [b]long-dormant brains[/b] in doing so.[/quote]:D[quote] starting with the atrocious story line where Sam didn’t look for Dean in Purgatory,[/quote]I was Okay with it..but what I was not okay was how they left the time immediately after Dean died (for sam ) unexplored and un-shown.
Loved your eloquent comment.:)
I think Kripke made that statement sometime around season 3 or 4. I read it just before the 200th episode when they were featuring Kripke in a lot of interviews and past interviews. You have to take it further, though. Yes, Kripke saw Dean as the hero in that he was tough, brash, smart mouthed and street smart. Sam was his counterpart. Introspective, quieter, not buying into the family business and book smart. That was the beauty in the relationship. Two so completely opposite brothers who were still able to work together and love each other. Together they made for a perfect balance. Ying and yang, two sides of the same coin. Their strengths and weaknesses balancing each other out to produce this unbeatable team. Questioning each other’s beliefs and both learning and understanding something of the others mindset.
Sam being regulated into this side character and Dean being a self pitying wimp is not what I signed on for quite frankly. Both brothers used to be tough, resourceful and kept each other honest. Not only are both main characters being done a disservice but yikes, Cas and Crowley. Now JC is talking about stretching out the MOC story! The end of the show is going to be the fans dying of boredom and slowly fading into the veil.
[quote]Sam being regulated into this side character and Dean being a self pitying wimp is not what I signed on for quite frankly. Both brothers used to be tough, resourceful and kept each other honest. Not only are both main characters being done a disservice but yikes, Cas and Crowley. Now JC is talking about stretching out the MOC story! The end of the show is going to be the fans dying of boredom and slowly fading into the veil.[/quote]:(
It took me awhile to find the article again, and I realized that I had paraphrased what Kripke said, but here is the link to the article
http://eclipsemagazine.com/supernatural-creator-eric-kripke-answers-fan%E2%80%99s-questions-%E2%80%93-part-iii/
Thanks for finding it.