#spn s11e19

[ananke-xiii]

“What’s it like, settling down with a hunter?” is such a good line, I love it!

As a standalone line is just hilarious because, while Dean and the verb “to settle down” have a very complicated relationship, he for sure knows “what’s like” living with a hunter, he’s been living with one for the vast majority of his life and he’s been nesting (not the same as settling down but I think Dean knows how to take a win when he gets one) in that damn bunker with his brother for how long? 4-5 years give or take? So yeah, Dean is quite adorbs when he says that.

As a central line to the whole scene is very straightforward because Dean has explicitly compared  Caesar and Jesse to him and Sam saying that the first fight just like brothers, almost as bad as the second. Caesar corrects him though, and tells him that actually it’s more like old married couple. Therefore, the “settling down with a hunter” unequivocally refers to “being married/in a committed romantic relationship” with another hunter.

As a key line connecting this episode to the season’s overall theme of pining&longing is incredibly telltale. Dean is curious, interested even. Marrying another hunter is not something far-fetched, Sam and Dean have met some married hunters in the past so that’s not news to him. He wants to know “what’s like” because he’s given that a thought. So far in the season Dean has come to the realization that there’s something missing in his life, a blank space, a void inside himself.

This episode starts with Dean deep in research-mode on one of the bunker’s desks and Sam instantly knows he’s worried about Cas. They’ve been like this for a whole week, trying to find a way to “bring the idiot back home”. Sam thinks it’s time they got out and hit the road for a case. Therefore, the reason why the brothers are in Gunnison, Colorado is because Sam thinks Dean needs to get out of the bunker and stop obsessing over Cas. From the plot pov, Cas’ absence is the trigger event of the episode. This is confirmed later on when Dean tells Sam that maybe Caesar and Jesse can “give them a hand with Amara, you know, with Cas”. This, per se, doesn’t necessarily mean that Cas is that something or rather someone who can fill in the empty space Dean has inside himself. But it implies that Dean feels that the “something” that’s missing is very strongly connected to Cas and Cas’ presence in his life.

Finally, “What’s it like, settling down with a hunter?” is a great line because it flips over a key scene in “Baby” by Robbie Thompson. I love when writers so explicitly communicate with their colleagues in their work! I mean, this is basically an indirect quote. Love it, love it, love it!

In “Baby” there’s this beautiful dialogue between Sam and Dean:

Dean: Piper? That's awesome. Heather. One-night wonders, man. Shoot, we're lucky we still get that at all.

Sam: Really? You don't . . . Ever want something more?

Dean: I'm sorry, have you met us? We're batting a whopping zero in domestic life, man. Goose eggs.

Sam: You don't ever think about something? Not marriage or whatever. But . . . Something? You know, with a hunter? Somebody who understands the life?

Dean: Have you not heard a single word Bob's been singing about? You're tired. I can tell. You're exhausted. Well, I'm still wired, so I'm gonna pull over, get some gas. You hop in the back, get some Z's 'cause, buddy, you earned 'em. Proud of ya! Piper. Mmm. Man, she smelled good, too.

At the beginning of the season Dean seems to be quite certain that there's no chance for them to have a “domestic life”. Sam doesn’t disagree but he highlights Dean’s limited perspective on the matter. Not marriage but… something more. Specifically, something more with a hunter or with somebody who understands the life. Dean replies too dismissively to his question, so I think he's actually thought about that but either he didn’t like the end result of that particular train of thought or he didn’t want to talk about it.

However, by the time Dean meets Caesar and Jesse something has clearly changed. If in "Baby" Dean goes from 0 to 100 (from "one-night wonders" to "domestic life", geez, Dean calm down man lol) and he's quite "touchy-touchy" about the subject, in "The Chitters" not only does he seem more open to the topic, but he even freely and voluntarily brings it up with a couple of people he’s basically just met. And yes, the big thing that has happened to him in between these episodes is not Amara. It’s Cas’ absence. So it’s safe to say that the show is implying in no uncertain terms that Cas’ absence and Dean’s sudden interest in “settling down with somebody who understand the life” are connected. Do with that what you will.

Nancy Won managed to intertwine scene, episode and season in one single line. I must admit it’s quite brilliant.

Anyway, “The Chitters” is such a packed episode, Nancy Won really tried her best to weave a compelling MOTW (the Bisaan is hands down one of the most horrifying monsters in all of SPN), the season’s main themes and some good ol’ subtext. She also wrote “Thin Lizzie” and I remember that I liked it a lot, too bad she didn’t stick around in the writers room for later seasons.

[hellerradio]

Even though Cas only shows up in one of these three episodes, they still hit pretty hard. With Dean encountering hunter husbands, dishing with Billie about his 80’s leading man crush, yelling the “wrong” name at a big moment with Amara, and more, there’s a lot to unpack here… 📺

TW for creepy bugs and discussion of suicide

➡️ Listen here!

Episodes discussed:

11x17 - Red Meat

11x18 - Hell’s Angel

11x19 - The Chitters

[johnsotherbastard]

Sam is using his fucking laptop as a tray to hold his bowl of soup

[vendettasfanfictioning]

you can't convince me dean wasn't already in love with castiel by s11 like. what do you mean on the episode where dean is hung up, nay, borderline desperate to find a way to get castiel back, the case they land just so happens to be handled by a hunter couple (a romantic! mlm! couple!!!!!)

dean dead ass asks them how it's like to settle down with these big green eyes just so full of longing and understanding.

LIKE TELL ME THIS ISN'T HOW DEAN STARES AT CAS !!!!!!!

and this ending, don't even get me started on this ending

THEY GET TO RETIRE!!!! THIS IS DEAN FINALLY SEEING A HAPPY ENDING FOR HUNTERS!!!!! THIS IS DEAN REALIZING AND ACCEPTING THAT IT'S POSSIBLE!!!!!!

they got me in the first half, not gonna lie, with jesse's "they killed my brother" revenge story and cesar's ride-or-die support but then. this sealed the deal.

horses???? hello mr. dean cowboy fetish winchester????? and emt???? when castiel's a whole ass healer mage with his angel mojo???? TELL ME I'M NOT DELUSIONAL

The narrative is giving, "see? this can happen. happiness does exist in this universe, but only from a far enough distance that dean and sam can yearn for it without really getting it."

[lower-the-volume]

11.19 The Chitters

[panicroomsammy]

There’s a sex pollen/aliens made them do it episode of Supernatural. Of course there is.

[funkytownwinchester]

SPN Gif Masterlist

Parallels

Jack and Cas - "I love you. I love you all."

Sam and Dean - "I can't do this alone."

Dean - S01 vs. S12

Misc (Actors)

Jensen and Jared pose for the camera

Jensen and Jared dancing/striking poses in blooper reels

Jensen's smile

Jensen winks at the camera

Jensen laughing in bloopers - part 1

Jensen laughing in bloopers - part 2

Jared laughing in bloopers

Misha laughing in bloopers

Jared looking good

Dancing in the cage

"I've got dialogue."

Jared's social media joke

Jensen squishing Jared's arm

Jensen throws a bottle at Jared's head

Misc (Characters)

Out of context reaction images

Sam helping Dean through moments of anxiety

Dean cradling Sam's face

Dean's nicknames for Cas

Crowley poses

Dean opens Sam's beer

Cas flirts with the camera

Dean's little wiggle

Cas and Dean dancing

Smiling family

Dean fights a pillow

"Why were you praying to him?" / "'cause he's my friend."

Dean eating a powdered donut

Dean clings to Sam

Dean's knees stop working

Dean in a vest

Dean tackles Sam

Click 'keep reading' for a list of all my gifs, separated by seasons.

Season 1

S01E01 - "Driver picks the music, shotgun shuts his cakehole."

S01E01 - Sam and Dean interview two girls in a cafe

S01E01 - Dean's boobs

S01E05 - Dean smashes the mirror terrorising Sam

S01E14 - Dean being a big brother to Sam

Season 2

S02E03 - "Lighten up, Sammy!"

S02E04 - Sam and Dean, the grief counselors

S02E09 - Dean refuses to let anyone hurt Sam

S02E10 - Ava attends therapy

S02E15 - Conjoined twins

S02E19 - Dean gets his mugshot taken

S02E19 - Dean and Sam bicker in front of Deacon

S02E20 - Dean escapes his djinn-cursed reality

S02E22 - "You're my big brother. There's nothing I wouldn't do for you."

Season 3

S03E03 - Sam loses his shoe

S03E06 - Dean loses it when Bella has his car towed

S03E07 - Dean gets fed on and tossed around

S03E11 - "Rise 'n' shine, Sammy!"

S03E11 - Dean asks if a bra he found is Sam's

S03E11 - Sam makes it to Wednesday for the last time

S03E14 - Dean's little eyebrow wiggle

Season 4

S04E08 - Dean says 'please'.

S04E10 - Alistair chokes Cas

Season 5

S05E03 - Cas calls Raphael a little bitch

S05E07 - Dean's happy dance

S05E08 - Son of a bitch

S05E14 - Endverse!Cas laughing at everything that pisses endverse!Dean off

S05E17 - "Don't ask stupid questions."

S05E22 - Cas, the little angel

S05E22 - Dean's not gonna let Sam die alone

Season 6

S06E03 - Dean prays to Cas

S06E11 - Bobby's suicide joke

Season 7

S07E02 - Dean talking Sam down during hallucinations

S07E09 - Dean gets drugged by a sandwich

S07E21 - Cas giggles

S07E21 - The aftermath of Cas taking on Sam's trauma

Season 8

S08E04 - "Do I really say awesome a lot?"

S08E05 - Benny bickering with Cas

S08E10 - Cas is tormented

S08E20 -Dean asks Sam to punch him

Season 9

S09E05 - Dean hopes to interrogate a canine witness using a spell that lets him speak with animals

S09E11 - Sam the guinea pig

S09E11 - "It's the bloody mark of Cain!"

S09E15 - Thinman tries to kill Dean

S09E16 - "You don't know what it's like to be human!"

S09E22 - "I got this."

S09E22 - Cas and word play

Season 10

S10E02 - Demon!Dean looking hot.

S10E05 - "I'm gonna Barbra Streisand this bitch."

S10E06 - Murphy's law

S10E08 - Dean's pretend job

S10E14 - Dean collapses on Sam's shoulder

Season 11

S11E03 - Cas collapses from the attack dog spell

S11E16 - Bobby asks if Rufus has ever been nice

S11E16 - Sam holds Dean

S11E19 - Dean teases Sam for smoking in college

S11E21 - Dean informs Sam that he's babbling

Season 12

S12E09 - Cas doesn't regret saving the Winchesters (part 1)

S12E10 - Cas doesn't regret saving the Winchesters (part 2)

Season 13

S13E08 - Someone insults Sam in front of Dean

S13E18 - Ketch cares for Dean

S13E16 - "Be like Elsa; let it go."

Season 14

S14E03 - Dean makes fun of Sam's beard.

S14E04 - Sam's messed up childhood.

Season 15

S15E01 - Dean tells a joke while cleaning Sam's wound

S15E08 - Cas being sarcastic

[rewatching-supernatural]

s11e19

so many flashbacks, I'm confused

*****

two kids going fishing?

and they have a special coin

and they got got

*****

No leads on Cas and Lucifer

but a case!

*****

every 27 years, people go missing

it was naked and pale, but eyes flashed green

and it was junkless like Barbie

*****

orgies

burn sage to protect yourself

what a weird case

the chitters makes you full of lust

*****

gotta go to the forest and investigate

oh Dean was saved by someone

hunters!

Jesse and Cesar

*****

Bisaan

reproduce and then die

*****

Arguing like brothers, or actually, old married couple

*****

I don't have much to say about this episode

there's a case, they're looking for info, hunting the things, that's it

nothing big going on, but it's a good episode, it's got Kripke vibes

*****

this poor old man 😔

*****

ewww that big green worm thingy

that's a no from me

*****

that's not five gallons 🤨

*****

Oh, he found Matty 😭

*****

awn Jesse and Cesar are cute ❤️

hunter funeral for Matty

*****

Oh, they're retiring

that's sweet, wish em well ❤️

[kidrat]

So intrigued by the choice to have each half of salmondean chat with half of a gay hunter couple and have Sam’s gay talk to him pointedly about how his brother accepted him even when their parents didn’t. In a show that had internal logic this would be setting up Sam having a heart to heart with Dean that ends in Dean coming out. Especially with Dean (earlier in the ep) asking one of them what it’s like being with a hunter!!! That was baby’s first thinly veiled gay yearning metaphor!!! No other way to read it given post-Buffy allegory convention. And Sam saw Dean think out loud about the possibility of being on a relationship that’s Different… cmon now make it make sense. I think Jesse and his husband are working on the basis that Dean is gay and needs help coming out to his straight brother, even if salmondean/the bloody writers arent.

[jamiedornaniseverything]

Dean ►  The Chitters (11.19)

[hannahburley]

it just occurred to me that the disappearance rate (i.e reoccurs every x number of years) in spn s11e19 the chitters is the exact same as in IT

[babygirl06301]

SPN Rewatch → S11E19 “The Chitters”

↳ “You know... whenever you and Dad used to leave me to go hunting and I — and I wouldn't hear from y'all for a while, I was always sure that some vamp or rugaru or take your pick... I always figured one of them finally got ya. I tried to think of what to do, you know, the next step to take. I was just lost.”

[doykeitdyke]

That was a good episode. I liked that one. :)

[lower-the-volume]

11.19 The Chitters

[lower-the-volume]

11.19 The Chitters

[lower-the-volume]

11.19 The Chitters