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apocalypsosOkay, I'm awake, I'm awake. And today I'm actually going to attempt to write (yeah, let's see how that works out). But first!
John is a fucking bastard, and I dig that about him.
As much of a douchebag maneuver as that was, John probably did the best thing he could in that situation. There was no way in hell he could have ever introduced Sam and Dean to Adam. It would have been nice if that could have worked out, but in their world it never would have. The boys would have had to lie to the poor kid about hunting, about who they were, about how they lived, and the resentment bound up in this kid who's their brother who gets to have a normal life and a normal John ... those lies wouldn't have lasted long. Sam would have gotten jealous because Adam got to live that way, or even more angry at John when he, say, asked if he could go live with Kate and Adam so he could have a normal life, too. He would have spilled the beans in a heartbeat back in his teen years. Sad to say, but they probably had the best relationship they were ever going to get -- none at all.
As for Sam and Dean ...
The great thing about the episode is that I think it really brought into focus for Dean exactly why he and Sam are not getting along. I can't remember if Dean's implied as much before this season, but Sam really is just turning into a more extreme version of John, one not tempered by his need to protect his sons. And it's one thing to notice it when John's not constantly in your brain, but suddenly here they are in a situation where the entire hunt is about John and it's impossible to ignore.
Somebody elsewhere in the comments of one reaction post I read pointed out that Dean had a speech exactly like Sam's in Skin, which I'd forgotten about. It goes to show the extremes to which the two boys have swung. Dean's where Sam was when we started this shit, barely in this, only holding it together for his family. And Sam's where Dean is, in a way. Dean sounded like John back then out of hero worship, because he loved his dad in spite of his flaws, because he wanted to be a good soldier and a good hunter like John. Fast forward four years, and now Sam sounds the same way, with the added factors of higher stakes and more loved ones lost under his belt. I think there's a part of Sam that's hardening, that's seeing that John dealt with hard times by cutting off ties and sticking to family, by not making friends and keeping anybody else at arm's length.
The problem lies with Kate and Adam. John was obviously there for them, not as much as he was for Dean and Sam, apparently, but still. He visited, he took the kid to ball games, he hugged Kate for a picture eerily reminiscent of the one with him and Mary. He'd been cutting himself off for so long, and yet one taste of normal was enough to tempt him into baseball caps and T-shirts. It makes me wonder if Sam would do the same thing now, if some woman showed up with a kid of his, how he would react. I'm not sure he would react the same way John did, and yet I don't think that at this point I would find that a particularly bad thing, if he said they were better off without him right now. They probably would be.
I know a lot of people are angry the boys don't get along the way they used to, but I'm not, for a number of reasons. For one thing, if they were still as close as they were even in season one, when they were just getting used to one another again, when things weren't really that bad, I would have a hard time believing it. Who can go through even half of the awful things they've gone through in the past four years and still be as close as they are? Hell, my brother and I have never fought, but after four years of this bullshit, we definitely wouldn't even be speaking, much less in the same car together, regardless of the circumstances. Second of all, it's not in the relatively easy times when we prove just how strong our families are. It's in the tough circumstances, the painful tragedies. The Winchesters have been going through those for four years straight. It says something about their relationship that even though they're not talking to one another like they used to, even though there are lies and secrets and fights and arguments, the world is literally falling apart around them and they're still together, because family is, quite frankly, all they have in the world.
Besides, when they finally kiss and make up, it's going to be fucking EPIC.
The thing is, the boys' relationship is bound to change, and the fact that it hasn't been for the better this season is neither unreasonable nor a bad thing. They haven't hit rock bottom yet, but they're getting there. It's what they do when they get there that I think will make this storyline pay off in amazing ways. If this season has given us something to think about, it's what the Winchesters are made of. Dean wanted to be John without realizing he's Mary's son through and through. And Sam, who never even knew his mother, is John born and bred all over again.
John and Mary are a classic love story, and their boys are just like them. They'll come back together again. Have faith.
John is a fucking bastard, and I dig that about him.
As much of a douchebag maneuver as that was, John probably did the best thing he could in that situation. There was no way in hell he could have ever introduced Sam and Dean to Adam. It would have been nice if that could have worked out, but in their world it never would have. The boys would have had to lie to the poor kid about hunting, about who they were, about how they lived, and the resentment bound up in this kid who's their brother who gets to have a normal life and a normal John ... those lies wouldn't have lasted long. Sam would have gotten jealous because Adam got to live that way, or even more angry at John when he, say, asked if he could go live with Kate and Adam so he could have a normal life, too. He would have spilled the beans in a heartbeat back in his teen years. Sad to say, but they probably had the best relationship they were ever going to get -- none at all.
As for Sam and Dean ...
The great thing about the episode is that I think it really brought into focus for Dean exactly why he and Sam are not getting along. I can't remember if Dean's implied as much before this season, but Sam really is just turning into a more extreme version of John, one not tempered by his need to protect his sons. And it's one thing to notice it when John's not constantly in your brain, but suddenly here they are in a situation where the entire hunt is about John and it's impossible to ignore.
Somebody elsewhere in the comments of one reaction post I read pointed out that Dean had a speech exactly like Sam's in Skin, which I'd forgotten about. It goes to show the extremes to which the two boys have swung. Dean's where Sam was when we started this shit, barely in this, only holding it together for his family. And Sam's where Dean is, in a way. Dean sounded like John back then out of hero worship, because he loved his dad in spite of his flaws, because he wanted to be a good soldier and a good hunter like John. Fast forward four years, and now Sam sounds the same way, with the added factors of higher stakes and more loved ones lost under his belt. I think there's a part of Sam that's hardening, that's seeing that John dealt with hard times by cutting off ties and sticking to family, by not making friends and keeping anybody else at arm's length.
The problem lies with Kate and Adam. John was obviously there for them, not as much as he was for Dean and Sam, apparently, but still. He visited, he took the kid to ball games, he hugged Kate for a picture eerily reminiscent of the one with him and Mary. He'd been cutting himself off for so long, and yet one taste of normal was enough to tempt him into baseball caps and T-shirts. It makes me wonder if Sam would do the same thing now, if some woman showed up with a kid of his, how he would react. I'm not sure he would react the same way John did, and yet I don't think that at this point I would find that a particularly bad thing, if he said they were better off without him right now. They probably would be.
I know a lot of people are angry the boys don't get along the way they used to, but I'm not, for a number of reasons. For one thing, if they were still as close as they were even in season one, when they were just getting used to one another again, when things weren't really that bad, I would have a hard time believing it. Who can go through even half of the awful things they've gone through in the past four years and still be as close as they are? Hell, my brother and I have never fought, but after four years of this bullshit, we definitely wouldn't even be speaking, much less in the same car together, regardless of the circumstances. Second of all, it's not in the relatively easy times when we prove just how strong our families are. It's in the tough circumstances, the painful tragedies. The Winchesters have been going through those for four years straight. It says something about their relationship that even though they're not talking to one another like they used to, even though there are lies and secrets and fights and arguments, the world is literally falling apart around them and they're still together, because family is, quite frankly, all they have in the world.
Besides, when they finally kiss and make up, it's going to be fucking EPIC.
The thing is, the boys' relationship is bound to change, and the fact that it hasn't been for the better this season is neither unreasonable nor a bad thing. They haven't hit rock bottom yet, but they're getting there. It's what they do when they get there that I think will make this storyline pay off in amazing ways. If this season has given us something to think about, it's what the Winchesters are made of. Dean wanted to be John without realizing he's Mary's son through and through. And Sam, who never even knew his mother, is John born and bred all over again.
John and Mary are a classic love story, and their boys are just like them. They'll come back together again. Have faith.
