#SPN Skin

[deancrowleycas]

Favorite Shots Per Episode ✩ 1.06 Skin (3/3)

cinematography analysis and queer reading under the cut

It's of course very obvious that the shapeshifter is functioning as a mirror to Dean, but I still find it fascinating how this is depicted in the cinematography. Because the director isn't using physical mirrors, despite them being such a popular trope in horror for showing the true self or the mental state or metamorphosis of a character. The only time where you sort of see one is in a foreshadowing shortly after the establishing shot with the side-view mirror (which I absolutely love):

But for the rest? Not really. I always wonder if interpret waaaay too much into certain frames, but I am kind of obsessed with how Dean and Becky are divided by the crime scene tape in this shot. Becky is the victim. Dean, well Dean? He's the monster. Kind of. I think a lot of the reflection in this episode happens through what Dean is not also, and he's are not living the lives of 'normal' people. I love how the directing of the episode shows early on that Dean does not belong to that part of society, just like the shapeshifter.

I mean I obviously am doing a queer reading of that (being queer myself), with the monstrous and othered bodies in media being those that are not conforming to various aspects of white cishet society. But I am going to say - the implication that there is a sort of inherent tragedy to Dean's life, not just a sense of not belonging because of his 'lifestyle' but also the fear of being monstrous enough to destroy other people's bodies and livelihoods? Ugh. It hurts, and it's sadly coming back in anti-queer narratives to this day. But yeah, as I said, Dean is portrayed in a way that is disconnecting him from the rest - also from Sam who is the link to this 'normal' life by knowing Becky and who has kept Dean from 'being himself' by pursuing his own dreams and conforming to the exact society that Dean is not belonging to, letting Dean behind in a position where he's neither free to be himself nor enough to be someone else -, and that is giving him a sameness to the shapeshifter.

Dean has to hide the queer part of himself, in a desperate attempt to be accepted, mirrored by the monster of the week: "So maybe this thing was born human but was different, hideous and hated...until he learned to become someone else."

I think that's why I am also obsessed with these shots. Because both the shapeshifter and the shapeshifter as Dean are getting one, revealing their true self underneath the mask that is this body, a body that is subjected to other people's ideas and is projected on and isn't their own. But also the eyes are mirrors? The body part described as the 'mirror to the soul'. It's a little cliché and on the nose, but I find it way cooler than just working with physical mirrors, you know?

And yeah, when it comes to reflections, of course, we cannot forget this scene:

Which is Dean seeing himself, but more so is actually Dean seeing how he is perceived by others. It's not a depiction of his actual self, it's a depiction of the concept of him. We know this, we know Dean is not the 'bad guy' that is televised nor is it an accurate portrayal of him. But I think that it serves to show the audience how media is a place that can shape ideas and construct norms, and it also serves as a way to remind Dean that this is how he will be reacted to if he dares to 'become' monstrous. If he dared to be like the shapeshifter, the outcast, and put his own being over his responsibility to conform. Despite his brother Sam being allowed the same egoism - but Sam's egoism is striving to conform, he's lawboy@stanford.edu you know, and Dean's egoism is striving to be free, to regain control over his body.

And then we have this shot.

Followed by this shot.

Dean 'killing' this reflection of himself, this part of himself in favor of serving and saving. He's a freak, but he's not just a freak like Sam in that he's currently living the hunter lifestyle and didn't really fit into Stanford. Because - well, he's different than Sam. Queer. He's isolated, alone, born hated like the shapeshifter if he ever lived his true self, yearning to be loved. The shapeshifter literally says it: "All he wants is for someone to love him. He’s like me. You know, everybody needs a little human touch now and then. It’s so hard to be different." I think this episode hits so hard for me because you can see Dean's self-hatred, especially in that last shot, Dean's internal struggles that he hides so well under his hero-esque facade. But also how he is ultimately a loving and caring person, putting everyone's happiness above himself.

I think despite this episode reading like being queer is an inherent tragedy at first glance, it walks a fine line in actually trying to convey quite the opposite. Dean is other, but the other isn't bad. Yes, he does good by suppressing himself, so does that mean he has to act according to others to be happy? I don't think that is what the episode is saying. I think it is more an example of Dean's 'monstrosity' being not the same as the shapeshifter's monstrosity in the end, that despite all the sameness they aren't one. That despite what society depicts him to be, evil and harmful to others, he isn't this mirror image projected onto him. He isn't what was shown on those televisions, or in a wider sense, the media. He isn't what is hunted down by the SWAT team, or in a wider sense, institutions in power. Dean's self IS good. Dean's self IS caring and loving, despite his fear to pursue his own dreams and be free, and it's not coming through his actions of suppressing those desires, but because he ultimately is neither those 'normal' people nor the shapeshifter, but his own truth. So yeah, while I think this episode definitely walks a dangerous path by having Dean continue to live this old life in the end, the cinematography in this episode also functions to reveal how - while horror is a love letter to the monstrous, represents counter-narratives and helps to deconstruct normativity (like in this episode!) - the monstrous is often instrumentalized to suppress and oppress and depict victims as an inherent danger to the established systems of oppression. Dean's true self isn't bad. People are just made to believe that it is.

[my-supernatural-rewatch]

Episode Six: Skin

Dean Winchester in the Supernatural episode Skin

I love this episode. LOVE it. Loved it the first time I saw it, loved it the fifth (maybe sixth?) time I've seen it.

It's dark and scary and we get a monster version of Dean (!!!!) and Shape Shifters! (I love Shape Shifters. They might be my favorite monster!)

An email from a college friend of Sam's sends the boys on a hunt to prove Sam's friend didn't kill his girlfriend and brings them face to face with a Shape Shifter.

We find out in this episode that Sam still keeps in touch with some of his college friends and Dean very obviously thinks this is weird because hunters can't get close to people. "Period."

Breaks my heart that Dean feels this way not just because John pretty much isolated him and the boys - although we later find there were other adults...hello Bobby and Adam's mother whose name I forget...who John DID interact with. So John got to have friends, Sam got to have friends, but not Dean.

Sam responds by calling Dean anti-social and AGAIN I wonder what the fuck Sam was paying attention to for the first 18 years of his goddamn life.

This might be the only episode where Dean complains about having to drive a long way. "St. Louis is 400 miles behind us, Sam." But I suspect his grousing is related more to not wanting to go pal around with Sam's friends and less about putting mileage on the Impala.

So we meet Sam's friend (the guy arrested for killing his girlfriend is this friend's brother and why is Sam friend's with them both? Are they twins? I have questions with no answers.) and to get her to let them help, Sam lies and says Dean is a cop. And she believes him.

At this point in the series, anyone who believes either one of these guys is a cop really kind of deserves whatever befalls them.

Dean is, interestingly, still not on board with Sam lying to his friend.

In previous episodes Sam, because he is so wrapped up in finding John and finding Jessica's killer, has been the one to complain about taking a job with the old "Tihs isn't our kind of problem" but today it's Dean.

Again, methinks, because it's Sam and his friends and Dean is feeling bad about that. (We'll get to that in a minute.)

Smart Dean is back with an expository explanation of Shape Shifters lore. Thanks, Dean!

Dean also figures out that the shifter is escaping through the sewer and not flying, as Sam suggested. Dean ALSO figures out that the shifters shed the person they've shifted into's skin once they're ready to shift again.

Blergh...gross...but okay. Good thinking, Dean.

When Sam's friend gets pissed at him when she finds out he lied about Dean being a cop, Dean gives him a brother talk about how the lying is why it's difficult for hunters to have friends. Culminating in this line:

"Hey, man, like it or not, we are not like other people. But I’ll tell you one thing. This whole gig...it ain’t without perks." And then he hands a gun to Sam. So, again, we get a glimpse into how Dean sees violence as a perk of the life he's been forced to live.

So...they find the place the shifter is holding up in the sewers and it gets the drop on Dean. Sam helps him up, Dean tells Dean to "Get the son of a bitch" and the next thing we know, after a chase through the streets, it isn't Dean with Sam...it's Shifter Dean.

(Here's where I add that monster/evil/bad Dean is my favorite Dean only second to In Love with Cas Dean.)

I have more questions becsaue it is never really made clear WHEN the shifter had time to shift AND tie Dean up before joining Sam. The timing doesn't work. Oh well. Forget it, Jake, it's Supernatural.

So we know Dean is actually the shifter but Sam doesn't and when they get to the car Shifter Dean asks Sam for the keys.

Another question: Sam didn't drive the car in this episode...why did he have the keys?

Anyhoo...Sam is no dummy and quckly deducts that this is not Dean. He quizzes him about another time John hunted a Shape Shifter but he shifter already has Dean's memories so he has the right answer. No biggie...Sam tosses the keys to Dean, who hurt his left shoulder when the shifter hit him in the sewer, and Shifter Dean catches it with his LEFT hand. Confimring to Sam this is not his brother.

Good on ya, Sam.

But, like Dean, the shifter gets the drop on Sam, drags him to the sewers and Jensen Ackles gets to chew the scenery (actually, it's incredibly well-acted and, once again, early on in this series, we see Jensen's acting chops growing with each episode) and he gives a villain monologue that I'm printing in it's entirety here because it is very important to Dean's background. (It's mostly monologue. Sam interrupts a couple of times but not with anything of import.)

"He’s sure got issues with you. You got to go to college. He had to stay home. I mean, I had to stay home. With Dad. You don’t think I had dreams of my own? But Dad needed me. Where the hell were you?

See, deep down, I’m just jealous. You got friends. You could have a life. Me? I know I’m a freak. And sooner or later, everybody’s gonna leave me. 

You left. Hell, I did everything Dad asked me to, and he ditched me, too. No explanation, nothin’, just poof. Left me with your sorry ass.

Now, yeah, I'm sure the shifter is reveling in upsetting Sam. But lets' be honest, there's a better than good chance (and I believe 100% absolute) that this is what Dean thinks. He's jealous...he's bitter...of course he had fucking dreams but he learned early on his dreams didn't matter. But Sam's dreams? THOSE mattered, didn't they?

Then just to twist the knife, he stops talking as if he IS Dean and leaves Sam with this bit of creepiness: "But, still, this life? It’s not without its perks. I meet the nicest people. Like little Becky. You know, Dean would bang her if he had the chance. Let’s see what happens. "

Ick.

Shifter Dean takes off and we hear from Dean Dean who is in the sewer with Sam. When he comes to, Sam tells him that the shifter is pretending to be him and Dean responds, "He's not stupid; he picked the handsome one."

Yes, Dean. Yes, he did.

So there is an incredibly creepy scene where Shifter Dean first is charming and sweet to Becky, apologizing for lying and getting her to hang with him and have beers. Then he gets continually creepy with her and she freaks and Shifter Dean goes to town on her (but doesn't kill her). It is sufficiently upsetting...this episode really is like a mini-horror movie - and, again Jensen Ackles kills it.

We get shirtless Dean/Jensen Ackles when the shifter shifts out of Dean's skin. It's scary, and gross, and a little hot, and reminiscent of An Ameican Werewolf in London.

It's Sam's turn to be detained (but not arrested) by the cops and even though he told Dean to stay away from the sewers...Dean of course doesn't and finds Becky being held there...the shifter is pretending to be Becky and knocks Sam out at her apartment.

Good thing Dean didn't listen to Sam because guess who has to save his dumb ass?

The shifter gets a great line in to Sam about Dean, "Your brothers' got a lot of good qualities. You should appreciate him more than you do."

Creepy Shifter Dude speaks the motherfucking truth, Sam.

After Sam takes the shifter down by kicking him (seriously...KICKING him) we get a pretty awesome Sam/Dean fight that tears up poor Becky's parents' house.

But Dean comes in and saves Sam's cheese by shooting the shifter (with a silver bullet) after a bit of a pause...I mean he IS shooting himself...and then he makes sure to grab the Samulet (that we don't yet know is the Samulet) off the shifter's neck.

Dean gets blamed for Sam's girlfriend's murder...but he's dead (because the shifter died as Dean) and Dean's only lament is that he would have liked to have seen his own funeral. Ahahaha. Dean, you card.

We do get one final great line from Dean before he jokes about being dead. He apologizes to Sam, much to Sam's confusion, and says:

"I really wish things could be different. I wish you could just be Joe College."

And even though I believe Dean feels the things that the shifter said he did, I also believe him here. Dean can feel both these things at the same time. He can be jealous that his brother got to have even a taste of a normal life but also really be sad that he had to leave that life.

Oh Dean. You never cease to hurt my heart just a little bit.

Some notes for posterity:

The significant music from this episode comes from Iron Butterfly - In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, Free - All Right Now, and Lynyrd Skynyrd - Poison Whiskey.

Sam and Dean pretty much get to be who they are in this episode, except Sam tells Becky that Dean is a cop from Bisbee, Arizona, to which Dean corrects him and tells her he's a detective.

This hunt takes place in St. Louis, Missouri

No kisses. Sam gets a hug from Becky and Dean gets a wave

This is the first episode with a monster version of Dean!

[caramelcum]

I read a fic once where Dean and Cas fuck after Dean finally goes to heaven and like…yeah it was hot or whatever who cares but…..it started with Dean driving around Heaven in his Impala and then Cas suddenly appearing in the driver’s seat shouting, “TETANUS?!?!?! REALLY?!?!!! AFTER EVERY THING, YOU LET IT BE A RUSTY FUCKING POLE?!?!?!”

And like, pop off, hotwings. You’re so right. That ending was dumb as hell.

[bloodydeanwinchester]

1x06 || skin

[otheredsam]

1x06 skin provides us with so much insight into dean’s perspective he has always been a big weirdo!! and a freak u guys.

SHAPESHIFTER: It’s funny. I kind of understand him. He’s all alone—close to no one. All he wants is for someone to love him. He’s like me. (REBECCA looks very uncomfortable.) You know, everybody needs a little human touch now and then. It’s so hard to be different.

it is fascinating to me that the shapeshifter is used as a foil for dean. because usually we only get parallels between sam and the ‘monsters’ to other him. if sam is both the subject and the other, what is dean? he felt hopeless from the start and his fear of being alone AND his fear of sam being ‘impure’ - these were the biggest catalysts for the main plot. fear not action. and i think that’s why kripke’s s5 ending makes so much sense because dean has to give up this fear of being alone and sam being corrupted.

SHAPESHIFTER: I am your brother. See, deep down, I'm just jealous. You got friends. You could have a life. Me? I know I'm a freak. And sooner or later, everybody's gonna leave me. [backs away]

the biggest difference between him & sam in season 1 is complacency. his submissiveness towards their dad (the OG architect of their life) & ‘roll over & die’ attitude is striking from the beginning and only gets worse.

another thing i missed is how much refuge he seeks in killing and violence right from the start! he finds genuine comfort in it unlike sam. see below

DEAN: I hate to say it, but that's exactly what I'm talking about. You lied to your friends because if they knew the real you, they'd be freaked. It's just... it'll be easier if...

SAM: If I was like you.

DEAN: Hey, man, like it or not, we are not like other people. But I'll tell you one thing. This whole gig, [takes out gun] it ain't without perks.

DEAN: Well, that’s ‘cause you’re a freak.

it’s a lil sick but sexy how dean keeps reiterating we’re freaks, we’re so different, it’s us, you only have me and i only have you. there is a bit of possessiveness & an urge to keep sam away from the rest of the world. maybe out of fear of him leaving dean again. it feels like: no one will understand you like i do. which is true in a way. this is that delish subtext they sprinkled.

SAM: Yeah, thanks.

DEAN: Well, I’m a freak, too. I’m right there with ya, all the way. (SAM laughs.)

SAM: Yeah, I know you are.

pretty much sums up the entire freak show <3

dean placing his claim on sam and establishing that they are cursed and separate from society/the norm/civilisation

[grim-work]

thinking about that post that said the real horror of spn was the ways abuse will resurface and thinking about how season 1 is so explicitly intensely overwhelming about domestic violence and abuse in the home…………….there’s something in the pipes, there’s something in the walls, there’s something in the closet the children see at night. we know, but we can never say it

[jamevaa]

The alley is maybe 20' wide, there aren't that many people around, and they're not discussing anything that suspicious out of context, especially not on a movie set. And yet they're walking closer than if they held hands, knocking elbows and poking ribs, heads leaning in.

[jellybracelet]

Every sighting of Sam's jelly bracelet - 1x06 Skin

jelly bracelet series

[caterinaofsiena]

my dark vanessa | supernatural | mysterious skin

[bloodfreak-boyking]

they should've fucked here btw

[immodestly-marina]

*chomp*

[deancrowleycas]

Favorite Shots Per Episode ✩ 1.06 Skin (1/3)

[seasononesam]

supernatural meme: (4/8) supernatural beings | shapeshifters 

Shapeshifting, also known as transformation or transmogrification, is a change in the form or shape of a person, especially a change from human form to animal form or a change in appearance form one person to another. (x)

[transgendercastiel]

Guys hear me out (enochian psycho??)

[let-me-be-your-home]

SPN 1X6 | Skin

[kitkatpancakestack]

It's the year of our lord 2024 and I still have to burn my eyes looking at "bUDDIE is NEVeR GOnNa HAPPEn bECauSe iT's Just DESTiel ALL ovEr AgAiN" tone deaf ass takes when they're not even in the same playing field, they're not even playing the same SPORT, take y'all's CW trauma back up the pipeline pls