#spn 15x07 meta

[charcubed]

*clears throat*

I’m going to be annoying for a second to add some lore to this post. Because one thing on here was accidental, but I think it’s cool to know that.

I am typically a huge supporter of the statement “nothing about this was accidental,�� generally speaking, especially because oftentimes I’m the one insisting that’s the case when people try to ignore/devalue subtext or production details.

But… While the colors in Naomi’s office are often pointed to as looking like the bi flag (understandably), at the time, Jerry Wanek said that wasn’t the case:

Of course, maybe Serge chose it for bi flag reasons, but this seems to be confirmation that he didn’t. And that honestly checks out, because the term “bisexual lighting” wasn’t even popularized until 2014.

However… to me, this moment is significant, because it means that in 2013 Jerry Wanek and also possibly Serge Ladouceur had the concept of using lighting to signify the bi flag brought up to them directly and they were made aware of the possibility. And of course, as the years went on, “bisexual lighting” then came to be something discussed in the cultural lexicon and turned into a well-established media language in its own right, used in several queer instances like Janelle Monáe’s “Make Me Feel” music video, the Black Mirror episode “San Junipero,” the movie Atomic Blonde, etc.

It certainly became known to the point where it’d make sense for its use in SPN to unequivocally mean bisexuality by 2019 and be blatantly deliberate by everyone involved in making episode 15x07. That includes Jeremy Adams, who wrote “GLOWING NEON SIGNS illuminate what can only be described as Dean's idea of Heaven. Cowboys and bikers. Gorgeous ladies and rock and roII” in his script.

My point in bringing this up and clarifying it is this: yes, Naomi’s office having bi lighting was accidental. People will sometimes mention that to try to claim all subtext in SPN must be accidental, but that’s obviously complete and utter bullshit. Especially because, in this instance, that “accident” could have put something on the team’s radar in a way that turned into it being used fantastically and extremely effectively years later—which I personally think is cool as fuck.

nothing about this was accidental

[tinkdw]

Thoughts on 15x07

Lee and Dean:

Lee is a relic of Dean’s past. The minute he said he liked John and Dean revealed John liked him we knew he was bad news. IMO the triplets thing foreshadowed for him lieing and being greedy as the monster of the week. Now I’m not saying this is def what happened as I say it is totally vague, but it fits with the whole monster thing.

The way Lee reacted when Dean talked about hunters usually dying was great, again he showed his bad guy traits, he was being shifty because he had decided to ensure that didnt happen to him by killing people. As I’ve said in another post, he was almost SO obviously the bad guy it made me question if this was a Chuck led episode given the blatancy of it (as well as Dean being constantly hit on and the two young hot women being the cold open).

This episode gave us Good Ol School Dean and his buddy, having laughs, drinking, being hit on and performing (literally) and it all going to shit. Because ultimately this isn’t Dean anymore. It showed us how much Dean has grown into himself and chosen who he is and what morals he wants to abide to.

He didn’t kill Lee because daddy told him to, quite the opposite John LIKED Lee and Dean had liked him, but Dean chose to follow his own free will decided on morality that Lee was a monster and had to die to prevent innocents being hurt. Dean called the shots here. In the end it was all about his CHOICE. His choice to kill Lee and his choice to help people. That is hugely important for his endgame.

Dean and Cas:

Dean telling Cas in 08 that he probably made it all worse is an excellent continuation of a theme. Thanks I hate it.

I heavily side eye Angel(a) being killed / raptured while her bff was blind drunk as a Cas / Dean mirror foreshadowing so watch that space imo.

The line about best friends don’t leave unless there’s good reason nearly had my eyeballs popping out of my head with the resonance just before he went back and saw Cas, who having been pushed away by him wouldn’t even look him in the eye. Dean KNOWS Cas left because of a good reason, he knows he fucked up. Now it’s time to fix it.

SAM:

Omg HAPPY SAM I DIE OK? I was not calm for like 10 mins after this scene. My heart!

Now I’m going to add something from another post as I think a very important scene here was the kitchen scene. For Sammy that scene shows his desire for a partner, his desire for domesticity, his desire for a partner he doesn’t have to hide who he is from, his desire for an equal partner, one he can be proud of and support, not just who supports and is proud of him but a fantastic person in their own right and equal to him, this is important, they share the cooking, they shared making the margaritas, that’s an important factor for Sam, he’s always been drawn to strong independent women who know their own mind and stand up for themselves and their opinions (and others) and Eileen literally being the voice of reason like EW! And SERIOUSLY? It’s dangerous? What the fuck are you guys doing?!

Now as he’s getting over his demon blood / Lucifer trauma bit by bit, and hurtling towards his endgame, his coping mechanism for this can start being let go (his clean eating and fun free lifestyle). And lo and behold Eileen arrives (coincidence!) and alongside his already working on his recovery himself, she’s helping him too (and it’s no coincidence they wrote her as sent to Hell to help him cope with his PTSD alongside her) - Sam’s allowing himself to have real bacon and margheritas and have fun? The metaphor is starting to be complete.

Cas:

Can I just squee about Cas and Eileen as perfect Winchester additions please and thank! Now as I say Cas seems to really be breaking eggs in these episodes as well as everything since Jack really, he’s made some strong decisions and yep they have sometimes worked out and others not (Tho that’s just normal in this show lbr) but ultimately this is a pattern now close together and should be relevant towards endgame as we’ve already discussed Cas us Chuck’s blind spot and clearly the catalyst to his whole big bad plot line. I’m also side eyeing his wavering sometimes they work sometimes they don’t powers and his belonging arc.

Can I say that at first I was like mmm why about Sergei being involved as ultimately that whole thing could have been done without him but I headcanon he’s there for the exact reason @norahastuff said in their great post as someone for Eileen and Cas to smoulder and be badass at and hell that’s cool by me ;)

Id also like to point out that we know how much effort jeremy put into this episode with so many callbacks (eye of the tiger, point one and b, yellow fever etc). And the pacing, storytelling and mix between tfw scenes was fantastic.

So all in all, I’ve probably forgotten some major points I yelled about to my friends but I have zero time to rewatch I’m sorry! These are the main things I remembered and absolutely loved. Jeremy did a fantastic job!

[deanwasalwaysbi]

Okay. Okay. ... Okay.

So Jensen worked out with Christian Kane that he should slap Dean's ass and Dean should call him a Kinky son of a bitch.

Jensen read that script, saw that bi-lighting, in the bar named Swayze's (x), and said "yes, slap my ass", & responded "you kinky son of a bitch"? ...

Chaos Machine can have anything it wants

EDIT: I could have sworn I heard that. I must have watched it too close to a clip of Jus in Bello. @deanismypatronass Am I the only one who thinks that audio is weird, like ADR weird? Probably in the song track. (Usually things like singing are done in studio and then actors lip sync along, which brings up for me, when was that ass slap worked out?)

[charcubed]

Let's talk about Supernatural 15x07, "Last Call."

Or as I like to call it, "the episode that makes me go feral because it tells us so much about Dean's sexuality, character, and arc." 

YES others have written meta! YES I will talk about it myself for the satisfaction! I LOVE IT SO MUCH.

This post was originally a thread on Twitter and I am crossposting it to my blog.

Alt image IDs are included in that linked Twitter thread!

Join me on this journey.

What's the context of this episode? Dean's been kind of down/depressed, feeling hopeless in the face of the idea that they have to defeat God (and not really working towards that goal much), and he's mid-divorce with Cas. He goes out on this solo case to try to clear his head.

And he ends up at Swayze's Bar. 

 Look, there are many things to be said about this. Dean loves Patrick Swayze. Arguably has a CRUSH on Swayze. It's very tied up in Dean pretending not to like "chick flicks" but he secretly does, which is queer coding. This was a Choice™️.

Speaking of Choices™️: professional actors made many here. Deliberately. 

 Dean is smacked on the ass by a woman and then Lee smacks him on the ass too. Dean and Lee CONSTANTLY have physical familiarity and fond eye contact. I will limit myself to 1 paragraph about this lest I list it all.

My point is that I just really need every person to digest and accept the fact that this is textually bi Dean. Not subtext; it's TEXT. 

Dean and Lee had a relationship. Their history is alluded to in touch and in words. They had an orgy together. Dean's bisexuality is not repressed.

It's also now canon that Dean tries to hide that he can sing well. Most people don't know (like Sam) but some do (Lee). Hence "Eye of the Tiger" callback.

And so: that's also the implication for his sexuality. Dean singing ON STAGE with bi lighting is him being ready to be Out.

They dedicated an entire half an ep at minimum to emphasizing he's bi... and to Dean having a conversation with someone he (initially) trusts about potentially having a break from hunting, and what that could mean.

LEE: You're chasing missing persons, huh? I thought you'd be on to something bigger by now, like the Loch Ness Monster... Bigfoot.

DEAN: Trust me, uh, bigger doesn't always equal better. Besides, who's gonna look out after the little guy? God certainly isn't.

LEE: Damn, brother, that's dark.

DEAN: Yeah, it's been a rough, uh... it's been a rough decade, Lee.

LEE: Yeah.

DEAN: But that's a conversation for a different time, 'cause this, this right here, this is all right.

LEE: Well, I'm glad you approve. This is nothing you can't have, man.

DEAN: Oh, come on. Who's gonna kill the bad guys?

LEE: Somebody else. Dean, how many lives you think you saved, huh? Hundreds? Thousands? You deserve a break, bro. Hell, you might even deserve two.

"But Lee turns out to be a villain!" some might say. "Isn't the point that giving up hunting is bad?" 

Nope. 

Lee's a DARK MIRROR for Dean. He exists to exhibit the truths behind Dean's desires, and then what they'd look like if they turned bad. Take it from him: "I am you."

There are LAYERS here. You can't focus on the dark side and ignore the truths that take place in the (often bi) light. 

The singing? The conversations about taking a break? Throwing men out of the bar, which is framed heroically? "Road House rules" (another Choice™️)?

NONE of that was bad. It shows what Dean wants. 

Things only get bad–literally and visually–when Dean's tied up as Lee suddenly says wrong things in the dark. 

The contrast exists to show that maintaining Goodness is a choice, and Dean would have no problem upholding that.

LEE: It's called a marid. It's a freaky-looking little thing, isn't it? [Lee laughs, and Dean stares at him, incredulous] Ah. As long as you feed it, it gives you money, it gives you health, everything you dreamed of.

DEAN: And so, what, it just costs innocent lives?

LEE: Dean, you and I both know no one's innocent. After everything we've done, aren't... aren't we owed a little happiness, huh? Don't we deserve that much?

DEAN: Listen to yourself. "We're owed." "We deserve." Come on, man. You're not God. Hell, God's not even God.

LEE: Good or bad... the world doesn't care. No one cares, Dean.

DEAN: Well, I do.

LEE: Yeah. And that's what got you here. Now, takes a while to drain a man, but listen to me. Don't worry about it, all right? Don't worry because once you lose a couple of pints, you just fall asleep, and then it'll be over.

[Lee pats Dean on the shoulder]

DEAN: Lee.

LEE: This... this is not how I wanted this to go, Dean. When that blonde girl walked in here last night, I should've know, you know, Dean Winchester, the righter of wrongs, you were gonna keep digging, and you were gonna figure me out. And if it's got to be you or me, well, I got to pick me, man.

"No one cares, Dean."

"Well, I do."

It's a reminder to himself as much as it is to Lee. It's a re-centering of purpose that he sorely needs.

And what's also key? Lee is human, but is now a "monster" in Dean's words. Because Lee lost his ability to care, Dean can't abide by that.

(Side note: bonus for the fact that Lee dies up against a wall by being impaled and he coughs up blood. You know who doesn’t cough up blood in their very weird and unrealistic death scene? Dean in the finale.)

Remember: Lee is a dark mirror for Dean. "I am you." 

By fighting and (tragically) killing Lee, Dean "kills" the darker side of himself. The side that's struggling to keep going right now... AND the side that fears eventually wanting a break means you must be selfish and stop caring.

He can keep going. He can find strength to fight God–and in the end, take a break and CHOOSE peace. It won't make him dark. He's the most caring man on Earth, even when it's hard. That’s reinforced later. 

Isn't he owed a little happiness? And that's not in the having. It's in just being.

The bonus is what's going on with Cas in this episode. 

Dean's clearing his head and finding his center again while Cas is calling him. 

Come home. I need you. Remember what matters.

And again, contrast: Lee turns out not to be "real/true" in the way Dean thought he was. But Cas IS.

And after Dean goes through all of this... he's grounded again, he recognizes that even amongst questions of what God controls there are still choices to be made, he's reminded that letting his caring heart lead him is priority, he's lost another friend... 

He comes home to Cas.

It's awkward. They're still distanced. 

But this episode is a turning point for Dean. He's not angry at Cas anymore, he wants to talk, he's ready to move forward... he just doesn't know how to yet.

And if you follow the through-line... then you get Rowena saying "fix it"... and then after that is the Purgatory prayer.

I just !!! 

S15 is packed with Dean development to hone in towards the end of his arc, but "Last Call" manages to hit SO many buttons. 

• He's always been bi, & is ready to be Out

• He can want a break–& maybe run a bar like the Roadhouse

• Caring is at the core of who he is

It's about the CHOICE. It's about wanting to live your truths, and that "caring" can mean many things–from defeating God and saving the world, to making the hard choices when it counts, to maybe running a bar where people are safe.

14x10 and its matching Texan Star also say hello:

DEAN: How come you always have a boyfriend?

PAMELA: How come you only want what you can't have?

DEAN: Whoa.

PAMELA: Besides, you don't want me. You just like to flirt. I'm a psychic, so I kinda know.

DEAN: All right.

PAMELA: So, still not ready to sell the bar, huh? It's a lot of money.

DEAN: Sell? This bar? This is my dream.

PAMELA; Yeah.

And I recognize that rereading this info is sad(der) now because of what we got in the end, so uh... sorry. 

But that's half the point: it's repeatedly blatantly clear what we were meant to get, down to deliberate echoes in word choice–caring, happiness, deserve, even Roadhouse.

Dean was meant to choose to take a break, maybe run a bar–whether on Earth or in Heaven. At minimum, if Dean was meant to end up in Heaven, he was meant to choose it with eyes wide open. And the next time the phone rang with Cas' name (15x19), he RAN for him. He was VERY ready.

And the whole season tells you that. This episode is just my favorite.

So... thanks for letting me ramble on about it!!! 

DEAN WINCHESTER: BI ICON, ONCE-LOVER OF LEE WEBB, THE MOST CARING MAN ON EARTH WHO DESERVED TO CHOOSE PEACE AFTER GAINING HIS FREEDOM, & SOULMATE TO AN ANGEL

And a very big thank you to the talented kings Jensen Ackles & Christian Kane, and their longstanding friendship. They gave me many rights with their acting choices. 

Here's an iconic bonus for the road.

[restlesshush]

Spn 15x07 as a fuffy speed run(?!)

To be clear, I mean this very seriously, although it is also frying my brain quite a bit. I was so very punched in the face by the parallels that I don’t think they can be accidental. Though that also doesn’t particularly matter.

So firstly, everyone go watch this fuffy/deanlee amv by @castieldean (massive shout out to them for planting this seed in my head) to set the scene re 1) a ton of dialgoue parallels, and 2) the idea of having a dark shadow who you engage with homoerotic dancing/karaoke singing, fighting, and murder [attempts] with, while they also tell you that you’re the same person. Now to build on that, I’m going to work through how some of the dialgoue in Last Call directly beat-for-beat corresponds to a pivotal Buffy/Faith exchange in btvs 3x15 Consequences.

A key aspect of this exchange is discussing Buffy and Faith’s position as slayers, and what this means for the relationship between them and ordinary humans, which is also a thread running through Last Call (re the status of hunters). The context is different between the two discussions, but the similarity of them very firmly positions Lee as the more devil-may-care Faith, both of whom see themselves as worth more than other, ordinary humans (or at least claim to), in comparison to Dean’s position as Buffy, both of whom argue for not being superior, and for having a responsibility for ordinary human lives. Specifically, Faith is also supposed to represent a temptation to Buffy here, of a way she could be, and given that Lee is as retired from hunting and running a bar (how Dean was in his Nihilism fantasty), I don’t think it’s remotely a stretch to suggest that Lee is playing the same role here for Dean.

FAITH: Anyway, how many people do you think we've saved by now, thousands? And didn't you stop the world from ending? Because in my book, that puts you and me in the plus column.

Vs in spn 15x07:

DEAN: Oh, come on. Who's gonna kill the bad guys? LEE: Somebody else. Dean, how many lives you think you saved, huh? Hundreds? Thousands? You deserve a break, bro. Hell, you might even deserve two.

Then the btvs exchange continues (key parts bolded):

BUFFY: We help people! It doesn't mean we can do whatever we want.

FAITH: Why not? The guy I offed was no Gandhi. I mean, we just saw he was mixed up in dirty dealings.

BUFFY: Maybe, but what if he was coming to us for help?

Faith: What if he was? You're still not seeing the big picture, B. Something made us different. We're warriors. We're built to kill.

BUFFY:  To kill demons! But it does not mean that we get to pass judgment on people like we're better than everybody else!

FAITH:  We are better!

Buffy is taken aback.

FAITH: (exhilarated) That's right, better. People need us to survive. In the balance, nobody's gonna cry over some random bystander who got caught in the crossfire.

Buffy: (sadly) I am.

And then a later scene from spn 15x07:

DEAN: And so, what, it just costs innocent lives?

LEE: Dean, you and I both know no one's innocent.

(Also even more strikingly paralleled in btvs 4x15 – Buffy: “these are innocent people” / Faith: “no such animal”)

LEE: After everything we've done, aren't... aren't we owed a little happiness, huh? Don't we deserve that much?

DEAN: Listen to yourself. "We're owed." "We deserve." Come on, man. You're not God. Hell, God's not even God.

LEE: Good or bad... the world doesn't care. No one cares, Dean.

DEAN: Well, I do.

And so, after we’ve had the homoerotic bonding of the first half of the episode (which is also a key part of btvs 3x14), and done a version of Buffy and Faith’s argument from 3x15, we conclude with Lee telling Dean they’re the same person, and Dean stabbing him in the stomach, while Lee is glad that Dean specifically is the one who kills him. Which is also what happens with Faith and Buffy in btvs 3x21. And also Dean effectively stabs Lee with a wooden stake – ie Buffy and Faith’s staple weapon. In conclusion: ???!!!

[astudyinfreewill]

so anyway i’ve just watched 15x07 ‘last call’ and i just. i knew it was the karaoke episode but was nobody going to prepare me for the fact that it is yet another example of the show drawing a direct parallel between sam’s (female) love interest and dean’s (male) ~good buddy~?

like. dean literally leaves sam and eileen (welcome back queen!! <3) alone at the bunker, hungover from a night of joyously drinking margaritas together, with the clear implication that he expects them to keep “reconnecting” and, well: have sex. an implication that is later reinforced by eileen suggesting they do something fun and saying she has “a few ideas” (ONLY FOR THEM TO GET COCKBLOCKED BY CAS STORMING IN AND ASKING WHERE DEAN IS. SORRY SAMUEL BUT PAYBACK’S A BITCH. HOW D’YA LIKE THEM APPLES)

...meanwhile dean takes off and ends up at a bar called swayze’s. i’m sure other people must have pointed this out but i really don’t think that’s a coincidence-- you know, patrick swayze, of “swayze movie. swayze always gets a pass” fame? which, sure, is a line dean throws at sam to justify his quoting a “chick flick” -- when we know the truth is that dean quite simply just likes chick flicks -- but as far as justifications go, isn’t all that great, because it implies that chick flicks with patrick swayze are fine and “get a pass” because... what, because he’s hot? because dean finds him attractive so he makes an “exception” to his Macho Hetero Man rules?? real subtle, boy. reeeeeeeal subtle.

THE POINT IS dean ends up at swayze’s and he runs into a hot waitress who visibly hits on him. you might think this is the parallel with sam/eileen. and hey, we know dean loves frisky women, right? except it doesn’t quite work. not only because dean, though flattered and somewhat interest, doesn’t really go for it, choosing instead to stay focused on the case; but also because there’s no emotional connection there, not like there is between sam and eileen. you know who he does have an emotional connection with, though? lee.

that’s right-- dean runs into his old good buddy lee from a decade ago, and they, well. reconnect. and this is what gets distracted from the case, at least for a time. they start getting drunk together. they chat to the waitress, lorna, but neither of the men hits on her, and she seems to have stopped hitting on dean. they talk about john (cue: dean’s tight smile) and how he once caught them “wasted on a hunt” (were they just getting wasted? i wonder...). last they saw each other, sam was away at college. and we know dean did go on hunts on his own, with john leaving him to his own devices (sidenote: john telling lee he was the best fighter he’d seen?? right in front of dean’s salad?? fucking choke). i just... there’s so much in those empty spaces that we don’t get to see, when dean doesn’t have to perform masculinity for john or sam, and he’s allowed to interact with other men and touch them, maybe with the excuse of danger and violence, maybe with the excuse of alcohol, but maybe not -- swayze always gets a pass, and maybe he’s not the only one.

dean and lee also get up on stage and sing karaoke together, something dean hasn’t done since the time he was a demon and allegedly free of all shame. you know what else dean did when he was a demon? had an orgy with crowley and some triplets. and what does he bring up when talking to lee? they fact that they had sex with triplets and “shared fair and square”. like???? like!!!!! i feel like i’m going insane here what’s all this then. is this some complicated code? about how dean will only have sex with men if there’s triplets or twins involved? what does that tell us about the cartwright twins from scoobynatural?? (what does that tell us about endverse-- no wait that’s a whole other bucket of fish) is he literally going by the lonely island rules of “it’s not gay if it’s in a three-way”? is that what this is???

wild. WILD this show is w i l d !!!! 

(even wilder is the fact that dean’s time reconnecting with lee ends up being more significant than the time sam spends reconnecting with eileen because as i mentioned cas shows up, cockblocks them, decides to fuck around [by probe the god wound] and promptly finds out [by accidentally destroying sam’s soul, again], blackmails a shady healer into helping, gets fucked over, re-fucks him over by threatening his niece, gets sam’s soul back, and still has time to have awkward “oh no we just broke up but still love each other” tension with dean when he comes back. CHAOS IS STORED IN THE GAY ANGEL)

[weird-dorky-little-d]

[write-nerdy-to-me]

15x07 last call: cool tones, low lighting, lover's quarrel, sad dean in his feels, body without a heart, blue beers everywhere, missing his husband, one L A M P, presumably dean's room has seen better days, he leans into cas’ side of the bed

15x14 last holiday: warm tones, red beers under L A M P, redblue paired beers next to radio, husbands have made up, dean has borger, dean whistles, he texts his husband, m e a t  m a n  c o m i n'  t o  t o w n, his room is presumably clean

[sortasirius]

“Last Call” and Canon Bi Dean

This is going to be very long, very rambly, and very emotional.

Really though, I had high expectations going into this, and quite honestly?  Jeremy Adams blew me away.

This episode is about Dean’s growth, it’s about who he was to Lee, and who he is now, about overcoming his own desire to just stop caring and keep on fighting for the innocent.  But most importantly to me?  This episode canonized bi Dean.

So let’s just get right into it, we know from the beginning that we’re meeting Lee, Dean’s old friend that Sam doesn’t really know or isn’t really close with, but the way Dean leaves?  He doesn’t want to bring down the mood of Sam and Eileen in his post breakup depression funk?  Good grief.

The bar is cool and right up Dean’s alley, and right out of the gate we get the promo scene with the waitress that we were all wigging out about.  And my hunch was right, Dean just kinda rolls right by, which man, Dean from season 1?  Hell no.  She’s just his type, clearly into him, and yet, Dean’s world literally falls away when he sees Lee Webb singing onstage.

You can’t really do justice to the way with words to the way that Dean looks when he sees Lee and realizes who he is, Jensen and Christian have so much NUANCE in their scenes together, and the history behind them is palpable, even though we don’t know the extent of it.  And Lee is just the same way, looking Dean up and down and “Dean Winchester,” just to hammer home that something is going on here and we should not ignore it.

“You got time?”  “Always.”  Bruh. There are so many details that we can pick up on about them, their relationship, who they were to each other.  Even Dean’s little “you sound good,” come on guys, what the fuck?

That’s another thing: why don’t we know the history?  Why do they shy away from talking about why they split apart?  Dean is clearly upset when Lee mentions Arizona, what happened?  Why did John and Dean never mention Lee? And obviously Lee knows John, hell he seems more sorry than Dean does that John’s dead, but then again, the Dean that Lee remembers idolized John, so that’s definitely a big change for Lee, because Dean clearly doesn’t idolize John anymore.

I just want to hear about everything that’s mentioned in the episode in more detail: Lee and Dean went hunting together, presumably alone, since John caught them drunk on a hunt.  What went on?  I think we know. How often did they hunt together? How long had they known each other? D E T A I L S please Jeremy Adams!!!

“I don’t think I have seen you since Sammy was in college.”

“Right.”

“I mean, hell, I thought you were-”

“Dead?”

Also Lee does this little teasing laugh and everything about them is soft and my chest hurts.

“I mean, that’s usually how this ends, isn’t it?”

And what I want to talk about here is Lee’s reaction, because he doesn’t shrug and do the usual “so it goes” that so many hunters do, he looks at Dean, like really looks at him, he sighs and says a simple “yeah” with this look that’s so soft and so full of something and Dean looks away (doing his eye motion thing he does with Cas) and Lee breaks contact too and looks down and smiles and oh my god.  I told yall this was going to be rambly but I didn’t draw breath while typing that lmao.

I wanna know about the Arizona thing, I want to know why it made Dean uncomfortable when Lee mentioned it, and I want to know why it’s glossed over.  These two were like best friends, you can tell, and for them to just stop talking?  Hm.

They swap tales, talking about the triplets that they “split em up fair and square” even though that’s not possible and they had an orgy obviously.  Dean has this look with the waitress again and you can tell he appreciates it but like?  That’s the end of it?  In the next scene she’s gone and it’s just Lee and Dean talking, Dean making Lee laugh and enjoying it, it’s just so...romantic?

And even though, the second that Lee doesn’t recognize someone he should puts all of us, as the audience on alert, it doesn’t even cross Dean’s mind that Lee is doing something wrong, it’s not even on his radar.

“There’s nothing you can’t have, man.”

“Then who’s gonna kill the bad guys?”

“Somebody else.”

And Dean looks away, because it’s clear what Lee is asking.  He’s asking for Dean to stay.

When Lee starts up the band, I was just struck by how much they look at each other, getting in each other’s space, Lee leaning forward, Dean watching him walk away.  Guys.  This happened in front of our faces on screen.

“Can’t sit around lip syncing ‘Eye of the Tiger’ when no one’s watching.”

This is a callback to the ghost sickness episode, but also an intimate moment that no one gets to see of Dean.  Sam catches him in the act of it on that episode, so how does Lee know he does this?

And then, let’s get to the singing.  Dean’s always postured to Sam that he can’t sing (which we all know Jensen has the voice of an angel) and the buildup to him actually singing was so beautiful, because Lee knows he can, he teases him with the “Eye of the Tiger” thing, winks at him, keeps trying to pull him onstage, stands there and bites his lip when Dean’s singing.  I mean.  I’m at a loss to what else you would think about them, it’s just plain as day: they were together.

The whole thing is just so playful, and we never see playful like this from Dean.  It’s flirty and funny and sweet and just such a nice change of pace, so good for Dean to be with someone that clearly wants to be with him, who he has history with (amidst the divorce he’s currently in w Cas).  Even when they sing together they can’t keep their eyes off of each other and the whole thing is honestly too much it’s so fanfic-y and I can’t handle it.

And then, the big thing, Lee slaps Dean’s ass in the middle of the song, and Dean doesn’t blush, he doesn’t stand up straighter like that’s weird or wrong, he grins this huge amazing beautiful grin and says “you son of a bitch.” What else are we looking for here?  He’s bi.  He’s bi.  With the lighting behind him and the bar named Swayze’s and Lee staring holes through him, we finally saw onscreen, canonical proof that he’s bi.  Sure, it’s been hella subtextual before, but this is text, and no one can ignore it.

At the end of the song, one of Lee’s hands is gripping Dean’s shoulder, and Dean’s arm is around Lee’s waist??????????  Help??????

They round it all out with kicking some gross guys out of Lee’s bar, and Lee stares at Dean and says “still got it.” I mean....I’m running out of ways to say the same thing over and over.

“Best friend’s don’t just leave without saying goodbye.”

“They do if they deserve it.”

Hmmmmmmmm, something to think about with these lines.

“Look, I don’t know what’s going on okay, but this is not you.”

Compare that with:

“Cas, this isn’t you, this isn’t you.”

Cool.  Fine.  I want to die.

Lee became the monster because he thought there was no point in being a good person anymore.  You can’t stave them off so you might as well “have a little fun.”  Which I think is interesting because of how apathetic and hopeless Dean’s been since Chuck, since Jack, since Mary, since Rowena, but when it comes down to it, he’s always going to care, which is why we love him.

But what I really want to talk about is the way Dean’s face twists when Lee touches him, he turns his head away, his face contorts, like he wanted Lee to touch him, but not like this.  We’ve seen Dean’s heart break so much in this show, he’s lost so much and so many, but this is something so different.  It’s not only betrayal, or a realization that he has to kill Lee, it’s the loss of what he had with Lee, what he felt for him.  It hurts to watch as an audience member, and I can’t imagine how it is for Dean.

Dean’s voice also breaks when he tries to call Lee back, in case you still had any tears left to cry.

The gunfight is intense, but not nearly as intense as what’s coming.

“I don’t know you.”

“You don’t Dean?  I am you.  I’m just you that woke up and saw that the world was broken.”

“Then you fix it.  You don’t walk away, you fight for it!”

No double meanings in this episode are there?  Perhaps this is a little bit of what happened between them all those years ago bubbling to the surface?

And then we get one of the best fight scenes in the show, and you know when Dean gets that cue stick, that it’s game over for Lee, but what I wasn’t expecting is the sheer heartbreak on Dean’s face.  They both look down at the wound, like they’re both surprised, and Lee holds Dean, he fucking holds him, and this fucking piano music plays when Lee says “okay” and drops to the floor, and Dean leans against the pool table because fuck, how much more can he lose?

And because not even THAT is enough, ten seconds of divorced Destiel distress?  Where Dean clearly wants to talk to Cas but Cas is still giving him the cold shoulder and it breaks Dean’s heart but he doesn’t know how to fix it????

There’s just so much to unpack here, the show is teaching us new things about Sam and Dean and Cas all the time, and yet I feel like I really know Dean know, I;ve seen a little bit of him that I had never seen before, and I’m just grateful. I’m grateful for Dean, grateful for these writers, grateful for his growth.  I’m grateful for the angst and the happiness he had with Lee, however fleeting, and I’m grateful that I get to leave this episode with the fact that Dean is oncreen bi.  Sure, it can be up to interpretation, he didn’t come out and say it, but that’s because he didn’t have to.  Lee knew, so we knew, and that was all that mattered.

This silly, weird show is important to me for so many reasons, (clearly, since I talk about it all the damn time), but Dean especially is so important to me, I see so much of myself in him, and him being allowed to be him, without some grand coming out scene is even better than I could have ever hoped for.  So thank you, Jeremy Adams, for giving us bi Dean, and one of my absolute all time favorite episodes in the show.

[deansawthetvglow]

I can’t help but think about how fucking scared Cas must have been when Sam blacked out because of his investigation into the equalizer wound. Like, it’s his first moment back in the bunker, he’s trying to help and there it is, something goes wrong by his hands. He must have been so scared to call Dean and tell him what had happened because Dean was fucking right. 

Everything is always his fault. 

I think the reason he was so fierce in finding a solution was not only because he deeply cares for Sam, but also because he didn’t want to prove Dean’s words right. 

When Dean returned and asked Cas if Sam was okay, it was out of concern, but I’m betting Cas read it as ‘Did you clean up your mess, Cas?’ 

This is why he stays so cold. He gives Dean a yes and turns away. Because, hell, maybe he does make things go wrong sometimes, but he will always find a way to make it right. 

[norahastuff]

Oh boy, I don’t even know where to begin, that was such a gem of an episode. Jeremy Adams did a great job. 

People have varying opinions on the case of the week episodes. Regardless of how you feel about them, for the most part, they are used to show us more about the characters and their emotional states. Sometimes it’s just through parallels or subtext, other times they textually discuss the similarities and what they’ve learned from their hunt, but when it comes down to it, at their heart, they’re really about our protagonists. 

This season has been taking that idea and running with it in a way they never have before, and the Dean and Lee story is one of my favourite uses of the Case of the Week format they’ve ever done. 

The monster in this case, some kind of wish granting genie, is barely relevant. It’s not there to inspire fear or panic and is killed off screen. Because this story wasn’t about it. It was about Dean and Lee. Have we ever seen such a perfect vehicle for a Dean parallel? Lee is just like Dean. Both hunters, same sense of humour, same taste in music and if Lee’s bar is anything to go by, they both have the same dreams too. If I’m going to be basic about it, they’re the personification of the “two roads diverged in a yellow wood.”

They both lost their faith. This world betrayed them and they couldn’t see any hope in it anymore. Any point. In Lee, Dean saw the worst possible consequence of his nihilism reflected back at him, and he realised that’s not the way he was going let things go down.

Dean: I don’t know you

Lee: You don’t Dean? I am you. I’m just the you that woke up and saw that the world was broken.

Dean: Then you fix it. You don’t walk away. You fight for it.

You know, I appreciate that Sam, Dean and Cas have all had their own journeys with other characters that led to them getting back their will to fight. To remember why they fight, and what it is exactly they’re fighting for. It’s the world, people, families. This was Dean’s moment. His, and since Christian Kane was involved I’m jumping on the opportunity to make an Angel reference, “if nothing we do matters, then all that matters is what we do” realisation.

It’s because they’ve all been on different paths. We see that play out some more with Sam this episode too. Sam’s struggles this season weren’t really about God taking away his free will, they were more focused on losing all the people he loved, the people he got close to. In 15x04, he talked about Jack, Mary, Rowena and how he still thinks about Jessica too. When Eileen, who’s just happy to be alive again, hints to Sam that she wants something more, even before Cas interrupts them (Classic Sam move there Cas!) Sam seemed hesitant. Everyone he gets close to suffers or dies, and I think taking that next step with Eileen scares him. He can’t bear to lose anyone else. It’s very interesting watching their dynamic play out.

And then there’s Dean and Cas. There was this small exchange between Dean and Lee

Dean: Best friends don’t just up and leave without saying goodbye.

Lee: Unless they deserve it.

And honestly it’s a pretty succinct summary of a lot of Dean and Cas’ issues. Cas leaves, he doesn’t talk to Dean about his issues and insecurities because he doesn’t feel like he’s important enough or that Dean would care.

On the other hand Dean doesn’t tell Cas how much he cares and wants him around, because of who he is as a person, and not for how useful he is. Cas always leaves and deals with things alone which has led Dean to think Cas doesn’t care enough about him.

Neither of them realise how reliant the other is on them for their emotional wellbeing. 

Until now. Because not only did Cas actually fully open up to Dean about his own feelings, he also came back. And he didn’t take back anything he said. These issues are hanging between them now, they can’t be swept under the rug any longer. They have to be dealt with.  And Dean’s starting to realise that.

(these gifs are not great, but I always love Amyn Kaderali’s directing so much and this episode was one of his best, so I had to gif it)

No Dean, it’s not, at least not yet. But they’re getting there.

As a sidenote, when it was announced Christian Kane was announced to be in an episode, I jokingly wished the show would somehow find a way for him to perform The House Rules...well lo and behold Jeremy actually delivered on my crack wishes. He truly is the best.

[drsilverfish]

Where the Girls Go Wild and the Boys Play Hard - The Subtext in Swayze’s Bar - 15x07 Last Call

Well, I guess now we know why Swayze always gets a pass... (a shared crush with an old flame).

And I guess we also know that the silent word in the episode title Last Call is booty... as in Last (Booty) Call - or, the tragic end to an old fling.

Ok, so I’m late to the party (I’m sure there is a party, right?) as I’ve just watched the episode and I’ve been avoiding spoilers! 

No doubt the queer subtext in this episode, regarding the nature of Dean and Lee’s previous relationship, has already been the subject of much discussion, many meta and gifs. So, apologies for any repetitions, but I’m gonna give it my best shot.

Firstly I was struck by the name of this old hunting “brother” of Dean’s - Lee. I know Lee Webb was a country singer. But, in the larger mythos of Supernatural, which Kripke based on Kerouac’s On the Road (Sam = Sal Paradise and Dean = Dean Moriarty) Lee would fit as a reference to Old Bull Lee, another character in On the Road, based on Kerouac’s friend, the writer William Burroughs (who was of course, gay).

There are many elements we’re used to - Sam/ Eileen (now overtly on the edge of something romantic) paired in the narrative whilst Dean/ Lee are paired; sharing drinks as substitutes for erotic intimacy (here, dick-touching):

which SPN has used before, notably back when Dean got infected by Nick the Siren by sharing his hipflask with him in Baby in 4x14 Sex and Violence (a subtextual kiss).

Then there’s the reference Dean and Lee make to a good ol’ time of theirs back when they shared an encounter with triplets (of unspecified gender) whilst hanging out with Lorna, in a situation at Swayze’s which could, potentially, turn into a present-day threesome, given Lorna’s earlier overt sexual interest in Dean, and the subtextual tension between Dean and Lee.

This reference to triplets (of unspecified gender) of course, reminds us of those other triplets (also of unspecified gender) to whom Crowley and Deanmon did “extraordinary things” together back in 10x01 Black during their “summer of love”.

But it was the intimacy of Lee’s line to Dean from the stage: “You can’t just sit around lip-synching to Eye of the Tiger when no-one’s watching,” that punched me in the gut. Dean had allowed himself to really be seen by this guy, i.e. shared his secret dream to be a rock star with him, which we’ve previously seen him reveal to another old love, Robin, in 9x07 Bad Boys. 

So yeah it turns out, as Rowena said, “What’s bi is bi,” - and sometimes bisexual lighting is bisexual lighting:

“Making their way, the only way they know how... that’s just a little bit more than the law will allow...” 

The Duke’s of Hazzard theme song, sure, but also, in this context, of course, an anthem, for Dean and Lee, to “outlaw” (queer, closeted) sexuality. 

Then there’s Lee’s bar, Swayze’s, itself, which sheds new light on Rocky’s Bar, the “happiness-trap” dream mind-bar which AU!Michael created in Dean’s head in 14x10 Nihilism in order to subdue him:

Looks like Dean and Lee shared a dream about owning a bar together, way back when Sammy was off at college and Dean and Lee were “hunting buddies”.

And look, Cosmic Cowboy makes an appearance inboth Swayze’s and Rocky’s: 

Yeah, I know it’s a real Family Business Beer Co beer, but that don’t mean it can’t play a role in the subtext additionally, where it connects these two old lovers’ dream bars:

I’ve written previously about the queer-coding of bars in SPN over the years:

https://drsilverfish.tumblr.com/post/50661253249/the-bar-scene-in-8x23-spoilers-detailed

https://drsilverfish.tumblr.com/post/115759833784/dean-winchester-bars-and-m-m-encounters 

https://drsilverfish.tumblr.com/post/182142619479/rockys-bar-a-closer-look-in-deans-mind-14x10

And there’s plenty of queer-coding in Swayze’s. Just look at those two guns crossed on the wall between Dean and Lee:

Sure, they’re about to fight, so that’s one layer, but as with the touching beer bottles above, this is also dick-on-dick symbolism 101.

And would you look at that freaking TV screen with the man on the end of a pier at sunset? Yup that also appeared in Rocky’s:

As I’ve often discussed before, pier symbolism has come, in SPN’s visual subtext, to stand for the intimate connection between Dean and Cas, from that pivotal scene in 4x20 The Rapture in which Cas entered Dean’s fishing dream, rebelling against Heaven to do so, and tried to warn him about Heaven’s plans.

Notice The Rapture is also referenced in 15x07 because the case Dean is investigating was reported in the news as a girl being “raptured” (taken up to Heaven). And that pier scene from The Rapture was referenced last week too, as Cas mused about Dean’s love for fishing’s “meditative qualities” during his Jenny Lake case in 15x06 Golden Time. The profound bond may presently be under strain, but oh boy, is the subtext singing from its hymn sheet.

Cas’ absence (and Dean’s longing for him) is layered into the subtext of both Rocky’s and Swayze’s bars. In 15x07 Dean has left the bunker because (we may infer) he’s finding Sam’s burgeoning happiness with Eileen hard to deal with, given his own break-up with Cas, and yet, the poor sod goes and runs, tragically, into another lost love. 

And then this dialogue hits us, and Dean, with break-up feels:

Dean: “Best friends don’t just up and leave without saying goodbye...”

Lee: “Unless they deserve it...”

You have to wonder if the similarities between Rocky’s (which was a fiction, an illusion) and Swayze’s, contains an ominous hint of Chuck’s handiwork. Perhaps he set up this painful scenario (by association, also a fiction) for Dean, to cruelly toy with his emotions. 

The reference to 4x06 Yellow Fever really made my subtext-dar go off, in terms of the multiple layers Jeremy Adams managed to deftly work into Last Call. Dean laughingly tells Lee about catching “ghost sickness” that one time (and of course, Lee’s Eye of the Tiger reference also recalls Yellow Fever for us). 

Yellow Fever, Dabb’s first episode for the show, is, in subtext, a study in queer-panic, which the “ghost sickness” (which infects Dean, not Sam) stands in for. See my queer reading of that episode, here:

https://drsilverfish.tumblr.com/post/182874642184/old-timey-spn-a-fresh-queer-look-at-4x06

“Ghost-sickness”, aka queer closeted anxiety, becomes deeply poignant here, hanging between Dean and Lee, like the ghost of their old intimacy, which they never vocalise, but which may (if we choose) be read in the way they touch each other.

Overall, this was a beautifully written episode by Jeremy Adams, and the final, tragic (sublimated) penetration of Lee by Dean with the pool cue - a real death echoing, in subtext, with all the “little deaths” (yes, sex) they’ve shared before, was acted to perfection.

Lee’s noises and grunts are the noises of a fight, yes, but close your eyes and listen to that scene. “Wait, wait,” Lee says breathlessly, and Dean pauses, before Lee tells him it’s ok to pull out. And Dean can’t freaking look Lee in the eye because this terrible new intimacy is layered ontop of older intimacies:

So is Dean’s bisexuality still subtext, after this episode?

Yes, given that out there in the fly-by-night froth of mainstream entertainment journalism, it remains (as far as I can see, in my admittedly brief trawl) unremarked upon in 15x07 episode reviews and recaps:

https://tvmoviefix.com/supernatural-season-15-episode-7-last-call-review-recap-spoilers/

https://ew.com/recap/supernatural-season-15-episode-7/

But, Dean does slay the monster in the closet that gives you fake happiness if you feed it the blood of innocents. And in that, we might read a metaphor - for Dean slaying his own closetedness (as much, anyway, as the CW will permit): 

My usual disclaimer applies: reading SPN’s queer subtext does not imply or promise textual confirmation is on the way. 

[tinkdw]

I refuse to believe that back a decade ago that Dean looked at younger Lee and didn't at least have a crush. I've seen Christian Kane way back when, he's exactly who I imagine a closeted younger Dean would have hung out with and mentally done backflips around his attraction to him. He's just the right amount of cool and rugged to paint any feelings as just manly admiration.

Hi! I totally see where you’re coming from nonny and I thought similar til I saw the ep and I just saw nothing that led me to think this is what happened.

I know there’s a ton of people saying it’s now “canon” that Dean’s bi and they were totally a thing, but honestly I didn’t see this (and this is what I didn’t want to post about but a few friends convinced me not to let myself be silenced even though some of them even disagree because they’re good beans and want discussions rather than steamrolling in fandom).

Much of what I’ve seen as “meta proof” that Lee was acting romantically towards Dean was actually not scripted and imo Jensen’s usual chemistry and heart eyes at everyone acting or in one case of discussion I saw as heart eyes is Lee acting shifty because for example it’s when Dean brought up the fact that most hunters die and Lee isn’t giving him heart eyes, he is shifty because he chose to avoid that and to murder people instead, with a monster right below their feet. If you go into it from the pov that Lee is the bad guy and take away pre ep headcanons about him being Dean’s ex imo it’s far clearer to see his role in the story as the dark Dean mirror etc than anything else.

So, my headcanon (so not what canon has said because canon had no text about them being romantically involved, that’s all subtext and imo all that subtext was actually hinting at Lee being a bad guy, not being Dean’s romantic ex), so anyway my headcanon is that Lee IS totally Dean’s type, you’re right, so why is he not interested romantically?

Well, Lee as we know was a Bad Guy TM, and besides one night stands (and even then I can only think of the Amazon as a bad person when he was desperate for anything) Dean always chooses and is romantically involved with Good People. People who want to help others and basically a knight in shining armour. Lisa was to Dean, Cassie was focused on truth and exposing bad people, Cas is the ultimate Good Guy TM you know? As I discussed this with @wigglebox we love the fact that Dean not only IS the knight in shining armour but he drawn is drawn to them.

Now Lee is a Cas mirror opposite. That is clear, he even brings up their break up in the episode with the line about best friends leaving only if they had good reason to. He put himself before others and decided to kill people for his own gain, not even to live but just to have a better quality of life. He’s greedy and materialistic.

So my headcanon is that Dean always thought he liked Lee and John liked Lee, Lee is hot, but why is there a nagging feeling of doubt there that means he’s just not interested in him, weird! Then 20 years later he realises why he had that hesitation because he knows he’s a good judge of character and he should have trusted his instincts more.

Lee is a fantastic mirror opposite of Cas (and represents the ghost of John) as well as a dark mirror of what Dean could have been had he not chosen through his own free will to do the right thing. In fact I’m going to add wiggle’s tags here that he’s a nihilistic mirror of both Dean and Cas and actively apathetic, not wanting to fight and actively choosing the easy option which involves hurting others which is just so not them. He is many many things and I think he was fantastically written and acted by Christian. He is totally Dean’s type, so why didn’t Dean flirt with him when he’s on a break with Cas and why did Lee bring up Cas himself and why did we then get that scene with Dean and Cas?

Again I reiterate that this is my reading of the subtext as the text is vague and doesn’t point to anything in particular either way. I wrote more extensively about the canon text of Lee in another post but this is more my subtextual headcanon fun from your jumping point of Lee totally being Dean’s type :)

[deanwasalwaysbi]

Dean Reacting to People Bringing up John Winchester

Sam: “Well I'll tell you one thing. We're lucky we had Dad.” Dean: “Well I never thought I'd hear you say that.” Sam: “Well, it coulda gone a whole other way after Mom. A little more tequila and a little less demon hunting and we woulda had Max's childhood. All things considered, we turned out ok. Thanks to him.”

Dean: “All things considered.”   1x14

Dean: “Not that I blamed him. He gave me an order and I didn’t listen. I almost got you killed.” Sam: “You were just a kid.” Dean: “Don't. Don't. Dad knew this was unfinished business for me. He sent me here to finish it.”    1x18  

Dream Dean: “Dad knew who you really were. A good soldier and nothing else. Daddy's blunt little instrument. Your own father didn't care whether you lived or died. Why should you?” Dean: “My father was an obsessed bastard!    All that crap he dumped on me, about protecting Sam! That was his crap. He's the one who couldn't protect his family. He- He's the one who let Mom die. - who wasn't there for Sam. I always was! He wasn't fair! I didn't deserve what he put on me.”   3x10  

Mary: “He was a great father”     12x02

Dean: “You know, when you died, it changed Dad. I mean he was hell-bent on finding out what happened. The hunter life, it just took him over.”   12x02

Lee: “I always liked that crusty son of a bitch.”   15x07

[raisinghellonstarbug]

Caption this

(from SPN 15.07)

[lunellumcas]

Okay, is anyone out here talkin bout Swayze? Look, just the invocation of Swayze’s name imputes a certain amount of homoeroticism, particularly when there are such clear allusions to Road House, which is known to be one of the most famously homoerotic movies of all time.

Take away the bi lighting and the gratuitous male/male touching and the prolonged looks and Dean’s preference for Lee over Lorna and the hard fact of a shared erotic experience and the intimacy of a man knowing Dean’s secret desires in a way a woman never will and the physical claiming of a private place on Dean’s body that a woman tried and failed to claim before and the concluding (standing) “o” after the men came together in the exertion of performance and the supercession of violent male/male physicality in the place of violent male/female physicality and the thrill of male/male bondage and the phallic imagery of beer bottles and guns and the way Dean knows the feel of Lee’s legs straddling his waist and the final penetration complete with tender touches and grunting and emotions brimming over

We’re still left with Swayze’s road house. And that, my friends, is gay. All on its own.