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ananke-xiii · 5 months ago

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First borns and how to stop them

I love love love "First Born", it's a 10 10 10 across the board* for me and here's why.

(*although the John Winchester hunting Kinights of Hell beat is kinda meh. I don't know if it's my memory playing tricks on me lately or what but I remember that John wasn't exactly knowedgeable about demon lore. And what about his diary being filled with info about Abaddon while Sam and Dean act totally clueless? Shouldn't they know their father's journal by heart by now? Or, I dunno, at least recognize the damn name or something? I don't know, something seems off here but I can't be bothered to check so I'm gonna give it a pass).

Patriarcal societies focus on the prominence of (male) first borns over the rest of the offspring. They represent continuity, tradition and, in a word, the past. Matriarchal societies, on the other hand, favor the last borns representing innovation, discontinuation and, in a word, the future. The biblical story of Esau and Jacob is interesting in this regard and I find it unbelievably ironic that in Supernatural the former leader of the non-factional angels is named Rebecca.

Cain is, of course, the first born of all time. However, in this episode he's never addressed as such. Interestingly, he takes on the opposite role: the Father (of Murder). You know things won't go well in Supernatural when somebody invokes John Winchester's name and this is one of these cases.

In this episode Crowley's seduction of Dean begins but we already know it'll eventually go badly since he positions himself like the daddy-type you can have fun with. I'm not sure why Crowley started to look for partners to rule hell with. I mean, of course he's a sentimental bastard who wants to be loved so it totally tracks. But from a narrative pov I can't tell where he made the switch. For sure, he made sure to show the Winchesters that he's a demon of his word, "the devil you know and so you can trust" and promptly proceeds to help Sam from the Gadreel's infestation. Crowley's fully aware that you never refuse a chance to impress a Winchester and basically everybody and their mother knows that if you save Sam, Dean falls in love with you on the spot. So Crowley played it very well, good for him. Or not (little aside: this is the beginning of Crowley's arc apotheosis. From imprisoned demon almost turned into human to restored King of Hell who turns humans into demons and make them his partner. The beginning of his end, sigh).

Anyway, from predator looking for his prey ("and your prey, Gadreel, has left the building. So, it's time to move on to more pressing matters, like destroying Abaddon") Dean is, once again this season, manipulated and Crowley quickly turns him into his little experiment, his guinea pig if you will.

The other (self-proclaimed) guinea pig of the episode is second-born Sam. He's just expelled Gadreel and found out about Dean's lies. He took it so badly that he's ready to literally risk his life to have Gadreel's remaining grace (ewwww) removed. The scientist experimenting on him is, luckily for Sam, none other than Castiel.

While his dark mirror Crowley stands for "fun, fun, fun, let's hunt together without consequences, yeah", Castiel is the voice of reason, mitigation and diplomacy. For pissed people like Sam and Dean Jiminy Crickets are no fun and must be silenced. Sam cuts him off twice or three times even, he doesn't want to listen to him because he's in his feelings. Nothing bad with that per se, the issue is that both Sam and Dean are highly emotional disregulated and they don't have the tools to deal with strong emotions. This episode shows it very well.

Sam hyperfocuses, internalizes everything, shuts down externally, he actually puts his own life on the line for a stupid experiment and literally utters the words "My life's not worth any more than anyone else's". It should be "My life is as worthy as anyone else's, right?" Do you agree with me? Not Sam. On the other hand, Dean un-focuses (he was hunting Gadreel but the next second he's in Cain's cabin on a killing spree), externalizes everything and shuts down internally. He also puts his life on the line but, just like Sam, he's also looking for a sense of worth and finds it in the Mark of Cain ("The mark can be transferred to someone who's worthy").

Dean is in so much trouble because he doesn't have a Castiel by his side. Or, well, he has his dark mirror version who preys on his insecurities ("He was right, you know. You are worthy") and is blatanlty playing him. The saddest part of all is that Dean realizes that and lets himself be played: it's not even begun and it's already ended. However, Sam's got newly reformed Castiel by his side and he's not as passive as Crowley fakely is, he takes matters into his hands and calls Sam's bullshit ("Sam, I want Gadreel to pay as much as you do. But nothing is worth losing you"). Castiel stops Sam. If the fight with Sam is what makes Dean go on a hunt with Crowley, it's Castiel's absence that prevents him to call it off. This is important.

What about Father-First-Born Cain, uh? He's paralleled to what's left of Gadreel inside Sam and, by extension, to Gadreel himself in their connection with Lucifer and their manipulation of Dean (yes, Gadreel and Cain 100% conned Dean, the moment he sent out his prayer to all angels and the moment he entered Cain's property he was doomed. As I said, Dean and Sam Winchester are very well-known names on the interdimensional street, you either steer clear of them or try a way to gain the upper hand, Gadreel and Cain tried and succeeded).

I'll be frank here, Dean is indeed worthy of Cain because if there was one guy who ever got conned was Cain himself. I mean let's look at his story:

Abel wasn't talking to God. He was talking to Lucifer. Lucifer was gonna make my brother into his pet. I couldn't bear to watch him be corrupted, so I offered a deal -- Abel's soul in heaven for my soul in hell. Lucifer accepted... As long as I was the one who sent Abel to heaven. So, I killed him. Became a soldier of Hell -- a knight.

Cain must be the most gullible character ever because not only he offered a deal with Lucifer but it was such a stupid deal that I'm like... really Cain? I mean, how could he know that Abel's soul was sent to heaven? Lucifer accepted. The same Lucifer who was literally browsing inside the mind of his brother pretending to be God? Hello, Cain, hello???? (little aside: S12 "I never lied" Crowley vs "I will never lie to you" Lucifer power showdown could have been SOOOOO good... if only...). But this is the fundamental error of human beings: getting tricked into thinking they can deal on equal footing with decidedly more powerful beings. He got totally played by Lucifer and he doesn't even know if Abel's really in heaven. The game is rigged ladies and gentlemen.

I gotta be honest again and tell it like it is: Cain's a bit of a self-righteous dick. He couldn't bear to watch his brother be corrupted so he offered a deal and he killed Abel. It's almost like the price, the burden that the mark weighs on its possessor is a sort of contrappasso: the power you abused will abuse you. Horrendous and utterly, utterly unfair because see above: power imbalance between the parties to the agreement. Again, the game is rigged. I take a little pity on the Father of Murder, the wonders of Supernatural!!!

However, there is someone in Cain's story who has good sense: poor, plain, unremarkable Colette. Yeah, it didn't go well for her, too. And who's the sanest person in this episode again? What? Castiel? Thee Castiel??? You know things are BAD when Castiel is indeed the sanest person in an episode.

The duality of the Castiel/Crowley combo has never been better showed than in "First Born": they are Colette/Abaddon, the wife and the mistress, the humdrum and the fun. The "you have to stop it"and the "we could have been forever". Rules of juxtaposition dictate that if Castiel manages to stop Sam he won't be able to stop Dean. And if Crowley manages to "be forever" with Dean he won't be able to keep the party going. And if Colette couldn't do anything about Abaddon but getting possessed&killed, Castiel will get possessed and will kill Crowley (he was very close). Exactly what happens in S10.

(the whole "you're living my life in reverse" has always sounded strange to me because Cain doesn't kill Abaddon and Colette doesn't exactly get killed by Cain... Abaddon did snap her neck and bones. Plus, there's the whole possession thing between the two (the blurring of the lines between two love interests). I don't want to sound smug but my interpretation is maybe a bit more faithful to the events as they are presented, I choose to trust Robbie Thompson's vision. The end result is the same anyway).

So what about Abel? Yeah, what about him. This episode marks the slow decline of the writers' interest in Sam. I know people don't like it when I say it but it's like... a fact. And, I mean, it's not even their fault 'cause the biblical and patriarchal story focuses on the first born. However, they are clearly retelling it and adding new characters to it so why removing Abel completely? It's written as a character who's incapacitated due to the fact that an archangel is snooping around his mind transforming him into his pet. Silencing him is a very dangerous move. S9 is so complicated, man. Anyway, it was unfortunately a "necessary" absence/silence because the final message of S9/10 is: patriarchy wins, tradition continues, the cycle of abuse is not broken. Yes, the cycle's still very much intact even if Dean didn't kill Sam.

Since SPN's version of the story seems to be working by juxtaposition, First-born-Father-Cain-Dean doesn't kill Second-born-Son-Abel Sam. But he doesn't get stopped by Wife-No Fun-Colette-Castiel either. Instead, Dean kills Death. Now, I've got things to say.

You don't know how I wish the whole Book of the Damned thing were never written or were a red herring. Imagine if killing Death was the Key to removing the mark and opening the cage! Beautifuuuuuuuul! First of all, in this way killing Death has a meaning and a value and doesn't feel like a cheap way to solve a conundrum. And second it would've brought home to the audience that Dean and Sam's main fatal flaw is that they can't let go. In a very convoluted way, Carver is saying: yeah, they didn't kill each other but this isn't a good thing because they're also refusing to integrate each other and move on. Therefore, The Things We Repress, Cage, Forget and Totally Do Not Want to Talk About must come to the surface of our conscious mind. And it will be total DISASTER because the unconscious mind, by definition, does not share the same values, beliefs and mechanics of the conscious mind. Fishing something out of our darkest pits must be done with the utmost care you can ever imagine and with the right tools in the right season.

Carver was working with pretty loaded symbols for 4 long years and it wasn't always easy to watch, I'll be honest. But the final message is very clear: Dark and Light are Distinct but Not Separate. This is like the basis tenet of all spiritual journeys. He literally laid his cards down and said: look, this is a story about two brothers and, like all stories about two brothers, this is a story about integrating two opposing aspects governing our psyche, the literal key is seeing/acknowledging our trauma, do the work and move on with more awareness. The cycle can be broken: there will be a shitload of work to do but people can outlive it. It's possible. I'm oversimplyfing too much here but this is just to say that "killing Death" would've been a powerful message if that was what brought The Darkness upon the earth: you can't kill a basic aspect of the psyche, the literal guardian between two dimensions, something will tip over if you do.

(I like to imagine Carver watching SPN finale undoing everything he spent 4 seasons on and got a shitload of (sometimes justified) hate for. I think it's a mix of horror and satisfaction, nothing beats the feeling of seeing our successors fall hahaha)

I'll stop now 'cause I feel I've blabbered enough. But this fucking show is not as bad as you think it is!

#i've got things to say!#first born #spn s9 #supernatural #spn meta #sam winchester #dean winchester #castiel #cain #mark of cain #crowley #abaddon #colette #spn rewatch #spn #abel

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