#SPN // 13x20

[miiilowo]

Jack's wings in 13x20 - Unfinished Business

[nobodymitskigabriel]

They are both Losers. They are both very Silly guys.

[crookedmime]

Dude, we could be here for days!

[menspussypowersactivate]

How did the world let me forget how fucking gay Sam and Gabe are. Like, they were flirting. Gabriel was litterally swaying back and forth like he was kicking his feet or somthing. What the hell.

[woundlingus]

So me and the mutuals can finally squeeze in that watch party we’ve always talked about between our time zones and jobs

[donteverchxnge]

Dean was a little too invested….

[shallowseeker]

On the whole, as a character, Dean has great gut instincts.

He's stellar at remembering a person's MO/objective, and his hackles raise when things don't add up.

(ex: with Metatron; he didn't trust Naomi for shuts and giggles; he "trusted" her because Metatron's actions didn't make sense)

But the point of his character is that he's human. Even though Dean gets it right a lot of the time, he's not a perfect seer. He's gonna be wrong sometimes, especially when he's been pushed to duress.

(ex. Dean trusted Gadreel "Ezekiel", and the he got used as a pawn in Crowley's war to takeHell from Abaddon etc etc.)

And because his instinct are usually so good, getting it "wrong" is is so, so painful for Dean.

////

On this note...

We got God himself tellin' us...

Like, do you ever just sit back and think about how Dean went wholesale into Chuck's bucket of shit there at the end?

And what that probably did to Dean's psyche?

Like, I mean: owch. It's like an infected splinter he can't pull out.

This was a moment there in 14x20 that Dean turned his back on everything he stood for. Dean is usually the one telling us that destiny and authority figures are bullshit.

And yet, you get this line of Dean's, falling in line:

"We got God himself telling us..."

14x20

///

Aside// I feel like... it just so much for Chuck to get Dean here, you know? This is what leads to Dean's full-blown existential crisis.

"I used to think what we did mattered." etc etc:

14x20

///

Pick up the gun, Dean...

And then when Dean can't pull the damn trigger, we get Chuck showing his true colors.

Dean is faced with an intense sense of betrayal AND an unspeakable sense of failure.

14x20

///

At first, Dean's not totally paralyzed with his anger and grief, right? At first, Dean goes on the attack against Chuck:

14x20

//

14x20

//

BUT THEN. Oh, THEN.

"Stop-- STOP!"

14x20

///

Jack dies.

And even in that moments after Jack's death, Dean's not dealing with it.

He doesn't quite believe his eyes.

Jack's dead in front of him, and something in Dean is clinging to: "Maybe it's NOT true, because Chuck said the gun was the ONLY way."

Dean's clinging to this as a grief-delaying tactic.

14x20

Dean's brain: Maybe Jack's not actually dead...

//////

I was wrong. And it hurts.

It's a multi-whammy, too. Dean is faced with many uncomfortable truths that are too painful to directly look at:

(a) Even with all that happened (Mary, innocent civilians getting killed by Jack's team-up with Heaven), Dean didn't want Jack dead. For a moment, he thought he did. He thought he wanted this "shell" of Jack neutralized. But now that he's faced with it, it couldn't be clearer to him just how much he didn't want that. (b) Dean is also faced with the fact that Cas was right not to fall in line with Chuck's plan. Chuck was a snake in the grass. Despite Dean telling Cas to get on board, Cas didn't. Now, Dean feels guilty and maybe even foolish for swallowing Chuck's lie. He even verbally announced that it was "the only way." Here's what Dean said earlier in the episode:

Dean facing that? That hurts!

It speaks to how low Dean's mental health and resilience was that he even got on board with a destiny-oriented plan in the first place.

///

Protective mechanisms

So, Dean puts protective mechanisms in place. Otherwise, he'd fall apart. (Will eventually fall apart, actually. In just a few eps.)

And despite everything, Dean's looking to Cas for spouse-coded support in this grief:

Reeling, Dean tries to keep his eyes on Cas and Jack.

////

Yet!

It's too painful to admit that he was wrong about Chuck. I think this is what Dean means when he later says he "couldn't admit he was wrong."

14x20

Here in 14x20, Dean starts having diarrhea of the mouth, babbling about how he always knew Chuck was a danger.

We see that in addition to being devastated by his losses... he feels like a fool.

It's not his fault Chuck betrayed him. Or that Chuck backed him into a murder-suicide sacrificial corner re: The Equalizer.

But Dean feels like he got duped.

Dean is usually THE GUY to see through destiny-style bullshit. And here, he didn't. It hurts!

//

And... Losing Jack like that. It's just so horrible. Dean doesn't know what to say. So, he rambles.

It's painful to watch him try to cover, but it's also interesting to me that, at least until Belphagor arrives, Dean and Cas ARE talking to one another.

They're instinctually looking to one another for (grudging) support.

14x20

///

14x20

Like how Dean was in denial over Jack being dead ("I thought only the gun could..."), in our 15x01 script, we see more evidence of this sense of delayed grief: "maybe we get him back."

///

What does it take to get Dean hooked on revenge?

I guess my point with this post is about the wound of Chuck's betrayal. This was a huge blind spot for Dean, It was an uncharacteristic, grief-induced bowing to authority...

It did something remarkable to him. In a bad way.

It got Dean hooked on the thought of revenge.

I think it's this sense of overwhelming failure re:Chuck and of feeling like a fool that pushes him into it. (They lost Jack's health, then they lost Mary, and then Chuck murdered Jack!)

Like how he usually poo-poos on destiny... Dean has usually been the one telling the audience that revenge is bullshit.

(Whether that's John's revenge, or Sam's revenge, or even Gabe's revenge in Unfinished Business):

13x20

///

And like, that's something, isn't it? For Dean to take up revenge, something had to go bad wrong.

Dean at first accepted soulless Jack back into the house without a thought. Then, he expressed some wariness about the heart-eating and Bilie's plan:

SAM: Jack, you… you ate their hearts? JACK: I… I had to. DEAN: And you let him? [CAS nods.] DEAN: Hmm. 15x11

...

CAS: Billie kept him hidden in the Empty until Chuck went off world. JACK: She let me out when it was safe. DEAN: Safe to what? Eat a bunch of angel hearts? JACK: Safe to do what I have to. The hearts, they were just the beginning. They made me strong, but I-I’m not strong enough. I… If I do exactly what she says, if I follow her plan, then I’ll get stronger and… I’ll be able to kill God. 15x11

///

Dean & Cas backslide, turning their backs on the very things they have stood for:

Dean backslides. Why?

Dean and Cas are both backsliding after Jack returns, and that is so... interesting to me.

The STRESS of Jack's death and his re-emergence have them focusing on things that go against their idealized value systems.

They get hyperfocused on revenge and destiny:

//

It's like the grief has got them both so turned around that they can't see straight!

//

15x12

//

Anyway, Jack's death was a deep wound, I think.

They want Jack back; they want the threat of Jack's murderer neutralized.

And like Revenge!John, like DemonBlood!Sam, like Godstiel, like MOC!Dean, like NaturalBornKiller!Mary...

Dean loses sight of the things he'd been trying to protect in the first place.

In his own words:

Sam gives him grace. After all, Sam's been there.

Sam not only pulled a gun on Dean but even accidentally ax-murdered him in a fit of Taurus-temper during one of Gabe's endless Tuesdays in Mystery Spot.

///

So... What does it take to truly "ruin" Dean?

We think about all that Dean's been through and how rarely he gets in line for revenge.

It makes this particular pain very special.

So, what does it take to get Dean on a revenge kick?

Well.

Jack Kline, for starters.........

Everything related to Jack. Jack taking on "Dean's" Michael-burden in Ouroboros, Jack killing Mary, and the murder OF Jack.

Jack is the difference-maker when it comes to "ruining" Dean.

Jack is the trump card.

The Equalizer intended to make Jack's death "the thing Dean wouldn't survive."

//

And see, like.

Chuck wants Dean to lose it:

He WANTED Dean's life to fall apart.

You remember Dean sassily saying, "Guess your life isn't so perfect, after all, Eight-Pack Mommy"????

That's Chuck.

Chuck looks at Dean's life, his happiness, his loved ones... and although he greedily scrolls through Dean's life, even living vicariously through it at times, there's something dangerously bitter hidden underneath that interest:

SAM: Wait, wait... Dean... Dean, no. Listen! [Back in the room where Chuck and Amara are] CHUCK: You hear that? AMARA: What? CHUCK: Dean. Brought to the edge of doubt. His sense of duty, his rage winning out in the end.

Chuck wants to crack him, to break him.

///

DEAN: I don't want to do this, but this is everything! SAM: No, it's not!

Dean doesn't want this. He doesn't!

////

Acting on our free will is a group effort

...and here, we see that in full view.

Rarely is Sam the one lending this kind of support. But it's because of the support Sam's been given in the past that he's in a position to support in return.

And Chuck is pissed. He doesn't get it. He doesn't get how them banding together to support each other during their worst moments is what makes them able to escape his clutches.

[Dean uncocks the gun and puts it away. Meanwhile, the door to the storeroom explodes and Chuck/Amara comes storming out] CHUCK: Are you kidding me?! After everything, all that, you... you did it again! 15x17

When Dean can't resist giving into despair, his family picks up the slack.

DEAN: [Fuck] you, Chuck. CHUCK: No, [fuck] you. You know what you do with broken toys? You throw them out. ... CHUCK: I mean... have fun watching him die. [Chuck points at Jack, who doubles over in pain] CAS: Jack. JACK: Help me! DEAN AND SAM: Jack, Jack, Jack. DEAN: Hey. [Jack's eyes glow gold, and golden light breaks through cracks in his skin] DEAN: Jack!

15x17

///

Cas supports Sam earlier in this very episode, which in turn enables Sam to support Dean.

As a family, they borrow support from one another.

The group support ends with Dean rising from the ashes of his existential crisis. He has renewed energy, ready to fight for Jack.

(Aside// In the next episode, 15x19, it's Sam who will lose hope, and Dean and Jack will try and lend their strength to him.)

@spnscripthunt-inactive

[idjits-areus]

Okay, can we just take a minute to appreciate the chaos god that is Loki?

1. He has a case just for lollipops like people have cases for cigars.

Trickers have a sweet tooth, yes, but this? This is dedication. Commitment. Showing his love for dumb dumbs of all things.

When Gabriel was "playing" Loki, he would conjure up all sorts of sweets. He would always have some sort of candy in his hand. He was trying hard to play the part. When it comes to the real Loki though, all we see in the like 20 minutes he's on screen for, is this case of lollipops. Nothing else. No other sweets. He doesn't need to show it because everyone knows he's the real deal at this point. The excessive sweets was all Gabriel.

2. He's extravagant.

From his housing choices

to his outfit

he's extravagant. He is a Norse god after all.

The hotel/motel he chose to stay in is shitty at best. It's dirty and probably falling apart. This God though. He uses his abilities to make the room look like a 5 star hotel.

And his outfit in this episode. It's the perfect mixture of cocky and classy. And he rocks it.

That brings us to

3. He has way too much confidence and is way too cocky

From his posture

to his facial expressions (also see the hallway image above)

it just radiates cocky confidence. It's like he's amused by the whole situation. That is until Gabe drives the wooden sword through his chest, then and only then, do you see the momentary fear in his eyes as he slowly fades.

And finally,

4. He uses illusions without continuities

With Gabriel, there is always some sort of continuity error that inevitably pops up (mainly because I believe that he wants to be found out as much as he would hate to admit it). Loki though, he leaves no room for error.

Sure, Dean wasn't looking for any potential illusions when confronting Loki, so I can't necessarily argue that Loki has no continuity errors. That doesn't detract from the fact that, from what we saw, there wasn't anything until Dean tried to stab them.

Loki knows what he's doing. He's been doing it for centuries. I'm choosing to believe that he wouldn't be that sloppy with continuities, on purpose or not.

[420technoblazeit]

it's like ok. here's the thing. i rewatched 5 or 6 episodes of season 13 and gabe's arc is not only bad it's absolutely baffling

in 13x20 dean suggests that getting revenge might not give him the satisfaction he thinks it will. and in that same episode loki taunts him about never taking responsibility and always running from his problems. there's a whole thing about how he's never contributed to something bigger than himself despite his role as an archangel

and then later gabe has a conversation with cas where he finds out that heaven's struggling to get by after the repeated casualties of the previous seasons. and he seems pretty upset by this. gabe also admits that he feels pretty aimless now that he's gotten his revenge. so cas suggests that he takes over to guide them. and gabe doesn't even outright reject him he actually seems to think about it for a little bit

so obviously the logical progression here would be to have him take over as the new ruler of heaven, learning how to lead over the next season or two and adjust to the new responsibility. this doesn't have to be a main plotline, it could just be a subplot that the writers revisit every once in a while for some comedic relief. gabe doesn't have to be there all the time, maybe he helps sam and dean out when theyre really stuck with something like rowena does. the set up is right there

except for some fucking reason they didn't go with that? despite building it up and very clearly pointing to it as a potential direction for the character??? and it's like. why include that conversation with cas if you weren't going to do anything with it. i don't understand why they killed him off in a repeat of his initial character arc instead of giving him a more satisfying one that also more or less wraps up the heaven plotline. did someone hold them at gunpoint and force them to change the script? did they think having such a powerful character on sam and dean's side would fuck up the power scaling??? I DONT UNDERSTAND

[soullessjack]

my beautiful war criminal girlfriend who loves killing and winning fights (〃´𓎟`〃)

[4c-aperture]

a continued record of bad decision making

(prev)

13x19

ROWENA EP!!!

and the return of toxic yuri shipping iktr

she's so fun and cool and hot an--

can rob benedict fight

so rowena's killing reapers attracted billie's attention??? oh, i see.

jessica is so fun, i kind of love her

can we not leave rowena to her frank castle nonsense??? like im sorry she's breaking sam's heart, but this is very hot of her

"its not easy to get Death's attention" OH, I SEE.

"she's powerful, she's gorgeous, and she's paying me a small fortune. that woman didn't have to put a spell on me." THIS IS SO REAL

the samwena of it all...

THE BILLIEWENA OF IT ALL!!!!

13x20

ohhhh gabriel world tour!!1

i truly hate that i knew exactly where this episode was going the second they show'd loki's kid's names, and the reason i know that is bc of mcu abo fic

ouat peter pan in a suit???

hate that dean winchester is canonically a man who will jack off with another man to p*rn, but bc the story they're jacking off to is het/features women it's not gay

"but he was my father" everything is daddy issues

13x21

dean is right. seven pieces IS normal

"we need lucifer." DO WE THO?

why did we need the split diopter lens for gabriel and rowena d!ck jokes???

ROWENA AND GABRIEL?! FOR SERIOUS?!?!?!

lucifer is so annoying. can he die.

is this spn's serpent's pass ep

they're trying to make me care about deadbeat dad lucifer, and its not working

13x22

please tell me the end of lucifer's arc is him sacrificing himself to save jack and thats the LAST we hear from him

(ik its not :( but a girl can dream)

this brother hug punched me DIRECTLY in the gut

this "im staying" from mary would've hit a LOT more if we'd. yknow. seen ANYTHING from her pov.

i changed my mind jack should kill lucifer personally

mary giving dean parenting advice...

again. we could've had SO MUCH MORE poured into this development

APOCALYPSE CASTIEL?!

why is he vaguely european mafia???

the deanketch is STRONG in this one, my god today

13x23

not they're trying to get me on a marybobby train after JUST getting me ok w ketch as a minor player

...oh this is gon be racist as all hell aint it

badge that says "not as racially insensitive as i could've been"

IS NO ONE GOING TO ASK MAGGIE WHO KILLED HER?!

ofc it was that man

JACK SHOULD KILL LUCIFER

PLEASE SAY THATS WHERE THIS IS GOING

"what if you had your sword?"

bold choice for the spn writers to keep reminding the audience of MUCH better seasons

oh this fight truly is awful

HE'S FINALLY DEAD?! LOOK AT GOD!

them letting jensen wear that fuckass suit was an apology for how BAD that fight scene was

[ihatedean]

is this before or after sabriel being a thing. or like. during.

[nobodymitskigabriel]

ugly couch we owe you everything 💫

[waywardvamp]

I like how now that Dean has had his own room for a while, he is far more critical of the shitty motels they usually sleep at.

[jinkieswouldyoulookatthis]

Dean: Sam, I'm not gonna apologize for protecting you. Sam: So that's what you think you're doing here? Dean: You remember what happened the last time we had front row tickets to the Lucifer/Michael show? 'Cause I do. You died… and went to Hell. But see, this time, the apocalypse isn't looking for us. We're actually looking for it. I don't care what happens to me. I never really have. But I do care about what happens to my brother. Sam: Dean, we're going to that place, and we're gonna save Jack and Mom. Together. And if something happens, we will deal with it together. And if we die? We'll do that together, too.

[woundlingus]

Look at his boobs and his perky nipples who you breast feeding with those is it me