apocalypsos | It's not a pet peeve. That sounds worse than it is.

I get where it's coming from. I just think that Sam needs to learn how to SAY WHAT HE MEANS.

Let me explain. It's the fandom's attitude regarding the phone call in "Faith" and John's non-reaction to it. Like, I said, I get where it's coming from, BUT --

This is what Sam says on the phone. (As boosted from the TWoP recap.)

"Hey, Dad, it's Sam. You probably won't get this, but, ah. It's Dean. He's sick and, uh, doctors say there's nothing they can do, um, but, ah, they don't know the things we do, right? Um, so don't worry, cuz I'm-a gonna do whatever it takes to get him better."

At no time does Sam really say Dean is dying. He says he's sick and that there's nothing the doctors can do. Which, okay, if you're a normal person, you think, "OMG HE'S DYING!", but when you're a Winchester and you follow that up with, "they don't know the things we do," it kind of implies that it's supernatural in nature. And then Sam's telling him not to worry (even if he sounds a little iffy about the prospect) and that he can handle it.

On one hand, it would have been nice for John to contact them to make sure Dean was okay. On the other hand, Sam doesn't make a hard enough case for John to understand the extent of Dean's injuries, implies that the cause isn't something your average doctor can handle (like, say, an exorcism or something) and then says he can deal with it.

Assuming that's the only phone call regarding the situation that John got, what's he supposed to think? Sam didn't call him every hour on the hour bitching at him to get to the hospital to see his oldest son before he passes away. Sam didn't leave him a thousand messages about the serious nature of Dean's injuries. Sam called him once, and somehow managed to avoid the word "dying" like he was dancing around a landmine. (Which he probably was more for himself than for John -- God knows if I were talking about my brother and dying in the same sentence, I wouldn't be able to hold it together.)

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Except... Well, it's also made clear that Sam talked to just about everyone else, that he went to everyone they'd ever had contact with and asked for help, and I think it's at least strongly implied that others just heard through the grapevine and contacted them, people that Sam was surprised would. And we also know John was in contact with people in the community -well, with Missouri, at least- and probably others.

In conclusion, Sam's call was ambiguous though he probably didn't mean it to be (and given that he was deep in denial about the possibility of Dean dying anyway), but really, there's no way John shouldn't have known, if not at the time, then after.

Assuming the person they got the information from didn't immediately turn around and call John. And if he did, then he probably gave John the same information that he gave the boys. In that case, it would be a horrible idea to call them. Dean would listen if John ordered them to go, but Sam would immediately put up resistance. He might even have insisted they go after John instead. If John knew that the faith healer was legit (in a way) and that it was the only way to keep Dean alive, calling the boys would be a distraction and might even keep them from going.

Dean would listen if John ordered them to go, but Sam would immediately put up resistance. He might even have insisted they go after John instead.

I'm sorry, but I can't see that at all. Sam, we've seen him auto-obey his dad in life-or-death situations. What he objects to is being given arbitary orders without explanation. "Hey, go and see this faith healer." = exactly the sort of order Sam would follow. Sam objects, I think, mostly to being kept ignorant, which John does a lot. He almost never explains himself, and Sam is research boy, Sam needs knowledge, proof, reasons. Dean, especially with family, works from faith.*

Now me, I favour the idea that John just didn't get the message until after it was all sorted out (which did happen pretty quickly), and makes his lack of contact... well, still bad on a human level (let alone a familial one), but not as criminally awful and negligent as it might be otherwise.

And the idea that Sam would risk Dean's life like that... it's not like splitting up in Scarecrow, where Sam knew that Dean was an unlikely target for a very specific killing thing. Dean had a month, if that, and Sam was desparate for

And then their dad not only never mentions it, never follows up on it, never even calls, he has the temerity to ask what the boys didn't tell him about Sam's visions. Really, the boys have no reason to believe their father would care enough to do anything about it. Just faith and instinct, which would be sorely stretched.

*The secret to any relationship is to find someone who is fucked up in compatible ways. Everyone's bent, it's just a matter of finding someone whose extra edges only get you where you're nicely callused or pre-grooved, and who already has numb scar-tissue where you might hurt them.

I think a lot of it is the snowball effect. He didn't call immediately, presumably because he was indisposed. When he did get the message, it was too late to call about it without looking like a dick. So he told himself he'd do it tomorrow when he worked up the nerve for the fight that was sure to occur, and just kept telling himself that he'd talk to Dean about it tomorrow until Dean was standing RIGHT THERE giving him shit about it. Yeah, it's over something serious, but that probably just made the phone call that much harder to make.

Yeah, I can see it happening just like that

I have a lot of sympathy for Sam in Faith. He was in such denial about the whole thing.

I can see it happening like that mostly because I'm having the same problem with my synopsis. The more I tell myself I'll work on it tomorrow, the worse it gets to actually DO it.

It's not a pet peeve. That sounds worse than it is.

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