#spn watchback

[wingtrap]

Season Two, Episode Four

Children Shouldn’t Play with Dead Things

3:18

It’s irrational, is what it is - Dean. Dean isn’t happy about visiting Mary’s grave. For him, it’s not useful and it’s not going to achieve anything. He’s willing to go because Sam wants to, but this is very much Sam’s way of trying to work through things. 

4:14 Sam buries John’s dog tags at Mary’s grave. From their previous conversation, apparently he didn’t tell Dean this. It’s possible that Dean just wouldn’t see the point in this. Sam gets the symbolism, but for Dean it’s putting something in a random patch of dirt with only the most tenuous connection to his mother.

4:38

The grave Dean is looking at says ‘Loving Father’. There’s something to be said about the irony of it when contrasted with John. 

6:38

It’s very obvious that Sam doesn’t believe Dean. Sam is only seeing this as another reaction to John’s death, and given that his best explanation for a perfect circle is pesticide, it comes across as Sam being willfully ignorant. It’s a problem with Sam’s relationship with Dean, that Sam is rarely about to see through the facade Dean puts up. Or, Sam assumes that Dean’s experiences were or are the same as his own.

 8:25

Sometimes it’s like they’re still around - Dean. Dean is very much talking about John here. John was such a large, controlling influence in Dean’s life that it’s incredibly hard for him to step away from that. 

8:40

That’s perfectly normal, Doctor Mason. Especially with what you’re going through - Sam.

Sam’s looking directly at Dean, and it almost comes across as cold. I tend to have a hard time reading Sam, but it seems like for him he’s just stating the obvious at Dean. But again, Sam isn’t fully getting Dean so he’s failing to actually sympathise.

9:11 Doctor Mason refers to his daughter as the most important thing in his life. And again, Sam is looking at Dean when he says he’s sorry. John was incredibly important to Dean, but he wasn’t a positive influence and Dean has shown that Sam is more important. It’s possible that Sam doesn’t fully realise this though, and sees Dean as repeatedly siding with John over himself.

9:58

You wouldn’t step within a hundred yards of it - Sam. Mary is incredibly important to Dean, as she is for Sam, her death is the reason their lives are as they are and avenging her death is the goal. And her legacy is very much tied up with John’s. 

10:18

Sam offers to allow Dean to punch him. It’s certainly something that Dean would probably like to do, but it certainly isn’t going to solve anything. Sam is in an area that Dean does not like talking about, there’s too many complicated emotions that even in season fifteen he hasn’t worked through.

13:31

Dean looks just so uncomfortable here. Dealing with crying people is Sam’s job.

15:33 I know how to do my job, despite what you might think - Dean. That goes a little into how Dean’s actually feeling. Hunting is what he does, it’s what he’s good for, if he is unable to hunt - and especially if Sam’s needing to step into a protective role - then Dean loses a lot of his identity and purpose.

26:48 The room was clearly not made for someone who’s 6 foot 4.

30:44

When someone’s gone, they should stay gone. You don’t mess with that kind of stuff - Dean. Terms and conditions apply. It is interesting that at the start of season two, John dies - there’s no discussion about bringing him back, Dean doesn’t even consider it. But when Sam dies at the end of season two, Dean goes to bringing him back after a couple days. It’s a contrast that has nothing to do with Dean developing as a character, but rather everything to do with his relationship with John and Sam.

40:36

I never should have come back, Sam. It wasn’t natural - Dean.<br> Unnaturally bringing someone back has just been demonstrated in this episode. Dean’s broken what he said twice in the episode - that what is dead should stay dead. 

[wingtrap]

Season Two, Episode Three

Bloodlust

2:31

As much as I like the Impala being introduced with Back in Black… we do have to admit that’s the world’s quickest rebuild.

2:58

I’m coming back to rewatching after a while, but for memory, this is possibly the first time Dean calls the Impala ‘Baby’.

3:06

We open with Dean in an unusually good mood. He hasn’t dealt with anything, namely John’s death, but he’s switched suddenly from taking an axe to Baby to apparently being on top of the world. And we see similar in later seasons; Dean will deal with things by acting happy and overly carefree.

4:57

Sam and Dean can’t agree on what newspaper they’re supposed to be from. It’s unusually out of sync for them; and the sort of mistake that would make it easier to spot them as frauds.

8:02

There’s a lot of assumptions in their description of the vampires. The assumptions will be challenged later in the episode, but right now they have a very basic idea of the sort of person a vampire is.

9:30 It’s interesting in this little scene how we turn from thinking Gordon is the monster tracking Sam and Dean, to wondering what monster is tracking Gordon.

10:09 They only check if Gordon is a vampire. 

10:15

We see the weapon that was used to behead the girl in the opening, here.

10:34

Guess there’s a lot your Dad never told you, huh? - Gordon For all that Sam and Dean have been exposed to a lot, in other ways they’ve been incredibly sheltered. They’ve got gaps in their knowledge which lead to costly mistakes. The whole conversation is being played off casual by all three, but this is a touchy subject, especially for Dean. He’s nowhere near ready to deal with John’s failings.

13:58

Sam’s focus is to just pull Gordon out the way. But what we really see showcased here is the violence that Dean is capable of. It’s obviously made worse in Hell later on, but for now, this is what Dean has been saying he wants. He sounded eager when he asked Gordon if he could come along for the hunt. 

14:14

Dean isn’t happy nor satisfied here. Gordon is, though. For Dean, violence isn’t something that solves anything. What he gets out of hunting is not violence for violence’s sake, as Gordon does, but rather the saving people. If anything he looks out of it. Dean can be consumed with violence, but in the process, he loses himself.

14:20

And the camera pushes in on Sam. He gets that this is unusual for Dean, or rather that he doesn’t agree with what Dean did. WIth Gordon there, it forces the brothers apart even more as Dean goes with Gordon - effectively taking Gordon’s option of enjoying violence.

14:38 The camera goes back and forth between Gordon and Dean - Sam is framed as though he’s a background extra. And as the camera turns around to him, it’s very clear that he’s separate. He’s not drinking with them, not engaging.

15:08 He’s the only one who gets to call me that - Sam.

Sam is completely standoffish to Gordon. But he’s also sending the message that he’s not going to just leave Dean. Dean and Gordon are contrasting with Sam and Dean earlier in the episode. Where Dean was bickering with Sam, he’s easily having drinks with Gordon. But it’s very surface level with Gordon. Dean barely knows him and again, it was apparent that Dean didn’t get any real enjoyment from beheading a vampire. 

15:20

It was not like it was human - Gordon. It’s one major idea that gets challenged over the years. How human are the monsters and do they deserve any sympathy? Dean immediately agrees with Gordon, with the argument that Sam isn’t having enough fun. But we see later that Dean is far from convinced. The ‘saving people’ part is incredibly important for Dean, as it is with Sam. 

16:49

I’m seeing things they’ll never even know. Never even dream of. - Dean.

Dean’s expression isn’t happy. If anything, he seems wistful for the other side, to have never known about the supernatural and to instead know about prom dates, school and being a teenager. 

16:57

Embraced the life? - Gordon. Gordon says this with a smile, for him, there’s no choice because being a hunter is what he wants. For Dean, there was no choice, because he was never given a choice. Yes, Dean’s embraced the life of being a hunter, but that doesn’t mean it’s the only choice for him.

18:57

Can’t talk about this with Sammy. Gotta keep my game face on. - Dean.

Not revealing his internal problems is one way Dean tries to protect Sam. He’d rather come across as unaffected and commit acts of violence so Sam doesn’t have to. But it is just a facade, Dean doesn’t have any way to sort out his emotions. He’s trying here with Gordon, but he’s talking to entirely the wrong person.

19:24

Good. You can use it. Keeps you hungry. - Gordon. For Gordon, the darkness and coldness is a good thing. For Dean, it’s the opposite. The more Dean gets cold and dark, the more he loses himself. It’s something that he can lose himself to, and it’s pushed to an extreme in Hell, but it’s not a part of him that Dean likes and it isn’t useful or good.

20:24

It’s all black and white. - Gordon. Like with the question about if monsters can be good, this is about having shades of grey. The shot is now framed with a lot of space between Gordon and Dean, they’re no longer framed as being on the same side of the table. 

20:48

The camera’s slowly pushing in on both of them, creating more space between them. Gordon’s trying to connect with Dean while saying that Sam isn’t like them. But we’ve now also go the undercurrent of what Ellen just said - that Gordon is dangerous to everyone around him, which means that Dean is in danger here.

23:44

Survival. - Lenore.

Lenore is basically making the argument against Gordon. That as vampires, they are just surviving. She’s certainly not arguing that all vampires are this way, but she is an example of the grey that Gordon ignores. 

27:11

Our job is hunting evil - Sam. Dean’s representing a watered-down version of Gordon’s side; that it’s black and white. If it’s a monster, you kill it. Sam’s arguing for the shades of grey. With some monsters, yes, but with others, no.

27:17

They’re all the same, Sam - Dean. It’s very similar to the attitude they had about demons. That each group of monsters, demons, vampires, or anything else, is homogenous and will act in predictable patterns. So when one breaks from the expected pattern, they’re wrong footed. 

27:42

This is a substitute for Dad, isn’t it? - Sam.

I’d disagree that Dean is looking to Gordon to take over John’s role in his life. This is about burying himself in hunting so he doesn’t have to deal with John’s death. Sam’s missing the mark enough, but he’s close enough with John being what’s bothering Dean. And as Dean said earlier, this is the conversation that he wants to keep Sam away from. Dean wants Sam to just think that he’s fine.

27:52

Because I know how you feel, Dean - Sam. Sam really doesn’t know how Dean feels about John, he thinks he does, though. It creates a very unhealthy dynamic between the brothers. Dean can’t talk to Sam about John without firstly breaking down some long-standing beliefs that Sam has. Sam repeatedly alienates Dean when he has the view that Dean has a choice when it comes to his relationship with John and Sam’s view that Dean is the good little soldier who should stand up for himself. Sam is frustrated, but he’s very much acting as the little brother.

29:32

You’re good. Massive pain in the ass, but you’re good - Dean. Despite their argument, Sam and Dean work well together. It’s one of their strengths, that they stick together. They'll disagree, but they’ll pull through for each other.

30:12

You can’t reason with these people. They’re going to kill us all, anyway - Eli. This is basically the argument that Gordon has about monsters. They are all the same, and it’s black and white. 

30:46

Is it just me, or is that the same bridge from the pilot?

32:37

This is a major line between Gordon and Dean. Gordon is torturing. He isn’t just quickly killing Lenore and this is not a rush from action. 

34:08

It wasn’t my sister any more. It wasn’t human - Gordon.

Firstly, this reiterates how extreme Gordon’s views of black and white when it comes to monsters are. He isn’t willing to even entertain the possibility of grey for his own sister. But also, as we see later with Sam having demon blood, the same question will arise for Dean as to if Sam has become something to be hunted.

40:55

When I killed that vampire at the mill I didn’t even think about it. Hell, I even enjoyed it - Dean. There’s a ‘but’ with Dean, though. His first instinct is to kill the monsters, but he’s got a second to reconsider and says more with his action of not having killed Lenore.                                       

[wingtrap]

Season One, Episode Nineteen

Provenance

2:48 How many random girl’s numbers does Dean have and do any of them actually get called back? I can’t remember him ever doing that.

4:28 Can I just point out that Dean brought two beers to the table but is drinking out of the one that was already there?

6:26 Again with the incredibly transparent disguises. And I use the term disguise incredibly loosely.

10:10 This is just incredibly awkward. It is nice of Sarah to get Sam out of it, as he's clearly in the process of finding a wine he can pronounce.

11:28 Sarah talks about going into a safe shell after her mother died. Much the same as Sam did after Jess died. He’s certainly physically in danger hunting monsters and whatnot, but it’s safer psychologically. Reacting with action and vengeance is easier and safer than facing his emotions and grief about Jess.

12:26 It does say something about Dean’s dating that for him, it’s all physical. The idea that Sam went on a date, talked and made an emotional connection is a foreign idea for Dean. It’s a bit of quantity versus quality.

14:41 Why the flippin’ heck didn’t they burn the whole thing in the first place? There were clearly bits of canvas left there.

15:14 This is what we call something happening for plot reasons.

20:27 I think that for Sam, unless he’s interested long-term, he’s just stringing the girl along. There’s that element of guilt or knowing that he’s going to have to cut things short so he doesn’t even start.

20:49 Dean is a heck of a lot more perceptive when it comes to Sam. He is trying here. It’s annoying Sam, but Dean is trying to look out for him.

30:23 Sam says that when people are around him, they get hurt. We know of Mary and Jess, and really for Sam, it’s mostly Jess. Sam does tend to have a better opinion of himself than Dean, but he certainly does still struggle. Neither has a great background in maintaining relationships.

31:16 Sarah doesn’t have the full story here, as she doesn’t know that Sam also blames himself for Jess due to the visions, and probably Sarah doesn’t fully get how dangerous what Sam and Dean do can be. Sam will need to move on eventually, though.

[wingtrap]

Season Two, Episode One

In My Time of Dying

2:16 Sam would have shot the demon had he tried to hurt them. He showed in the finale of the last season that he would put family before hunting the demon. This small bit just reiterates that.

3:03 The paramedic says that Dean’s BP is 180/60 - which would indicate a brain hemorrhage. I’m not qualified to the level of a paramedic, but usually internal bleeding means a low BP. The exception the brain where the BP goes up. I think the heart rate is for John, but 95 is normal, on the high side, but considering the situation.

3:08 And someone should really be holding the head. Cervical collars just serve as a reminder not the move the head. And tell Sam that his brother and father are alive - you want him to calm down and not saying anything makes the answer feel like it’s a no.

3:27 The music of this scene makes it seem a little out of it. We learn that Dean is more of a spirit - I don’t think he’s a true spirit yet. There’s also some odd shots - like at 3:52 when we’re looking up the stairs. It’s an odd angle.

4:05 The camera also feels floaty. I think to add a feeling of not quite with it, if that makes sense.

6:29 Presumably they’ve already discussed surgery or Dean’s had it. Again, not an expert, but I think they can release pressure - cerebral edema is swelling in the brain caused by a trapped fluid (thanks google). It’s possibly a question of cost, or the injury is severe enough that it’s too risky?

11:11 You haven’t called a soul for help - Dean. So in the nicest possible reading, John gets that there’s nothing they can do and doesn’t want to draw the process out. But you can see how much this hurts Dean and would Sam as well. Because John isn’t even trying here. His focus is still on the demon.

11:25 I’ve given everything I ever had - Dean. Dean really has given up everything - friends, relationships, interests that didn’t relate to hunting. One thing that this season starts to do is to explore who Dean is without John and for Dean to define himself. There isn’t a final conversation between John and Dean. In fact, John and Dean don’t talk one on one at all. Unless you count a couple of phone calls where it’s obvious from Dean just answering ‘yes sir’ that it’s orders. This is essentially their one on one conversation, and John’s actions are speaking for him.

12:35 That would have to be a pretty horrid position to be in for Dean. He’s right there, with people who could help metres away, but he can’t save her. That’s just out of reach.

19:04 It’s just fate - Tessa. That’s crap. You always have a choice - Dean. We’ve already seen that Dean doesn’t believe in a god, but this articulates that he also doesn’t believe in fate. It’s a position of wanting to fight despite the odds.

19:57 Again, someone that Dean can’t save. On one hand, they can fight against fate, but they also won’t win every time. Dean can’t place their deaths in his hands.

31:49 You’re about to become one. The same thing you hunt - Tessa. We see this also play out with Gordon later in the season, and with Sam having demon blood. The line between hunter and monster; good and bad. It’s a line that becomes increasingly blurred through the seasons.

32:43 The way Azazel brings up Sam, that offhand way. And the way John drops his gaze when Sam comes up. Sam’s still the focus here.

36:27 Can we not fight? You know, half the time, I don’t know what we’re fighting about - John. I particularly dislike this line from John. It’s him shifting the blame to Sam and shifting the focus of the conversation. John knows perfectly well what Sam has a problem with - the fact that John is lying and is still preoccupied with hunting the demon. John is having a last conversation with his two sons, but it isn’t a satisfactory apology for either of them.

36:45 Dad? Are you alright? - Sam. John giving them an apology and admitting that he’s made mistakes is what tips Sam off that something is wrong.

39:08 I want you to watch out for Sammy, okay? - John. I think John did mean what he said, but this is the important part. The why, and the reason John’s willing to sacrifice himself here. Dean needs to be there to look out for Sam, and John can’t do that.

39:32 John’s last order is to look out for Sam, but that’s always been about protecting Sam and keeping him safe. With this last message to Dean, that we don’t hear, it’s very much complicated. What John said and what Azazel wants with Sam become major problems in the season. So now Dean knows and this becomes about him dealing with that knowledge along with the need to protect Sam.

[wingtrap]

Season One, Episode Fifteen

The Benders

8:04 From the records, we get that Dean died 7 March 2006, in St. Louis, MIssouri after being the “prime suspect in multiple homicide investigation in St. Louis area prior to his death.” Dean is also using actual names. He’s still calm, but he’s also willing to throw caution to the wind a bit when it comes to Sam.

9:20 Sam’s my responsibility - Dean. Dean is trying to push the police officer into helping him here, but there is also a large element of truth. Dean feels he has to actively find Sam and wouldn’t live with himself if something happened to Sam. He very much sees himself in a parental role, or at least in a role of having to look out for Sam.

9:40 Obviously any of us would be able to stand up in their with a good foot above our heads.

15:09 Dean feeling responsible for Sam, and probably being responsible, started when he carried him out of their house the night Mary died. Having been four at the time, it’s something that’s very well ingrained into Dean. It probably started as a much more maternal role, comforting, telling stories, playing with Sam. And later evolved into taking on more as he got older. We don’t know all the details of them growing up, but we certainly get enough insights to piece things together, at least generally.

16:45 You can tell that this guy doesn’t live in a horror movie every day.

19:30 Kathleen is actually reminding me somewhat of Jody - just in the attitude.

26:15 With people...they’re just crazy - Dean.

32:14 I think it’s interesting how the father says that he’s been hunting his whole life. Dean is actually much the same, like his father he’s also been hunting his whole life (and while he doesn’t kill humans a lot of monsters are a lot like humans). We see especially in Hell that Dean is capable of becoming the bad guy - he’s quite capable of and comfortable with violence.

35:54 Dean when he thinks that Sam is about to die. I think he would blame himself, but you can also tell that he immediately switches to not thinking straight. Without Sam, Dean would be far more willing to get hurt to kill the Benders.

[wingtrap]

Season One, Episode Fourteen

Nightmare

5:34 So Sam gets the premonitions because the incidents are connected to him in someway. In this case, because Max is also a special child. Sam, however, questions why he would get them if there wasn’t a chance he could stop it. It’s him believing in something good, and perhaps a higher power that is good. But I think that the visions are a random manifestation of his powers, and they don’t have a higher purpose. It perhaps draws the special children together, but I don’t think that Azazel is controlling the visions..

6:35 They’ll talk to chippendale dancers.

7:44 Dean hamming it up is just rather uncomfortable to watch. You can tell he’s not being sincere.

15:12 So this vision has affected Sam more than any other. It’s possibly because he was awake at the time, though. Sam says the visions are getting more intense, so it’s likely they’re building in power.

16:03 This absolutely freaks Dean out. It’s always been his role to hold things together, though. Right now, also, Sam having visions isn’t in and of itself threatening - it’s more why he’s having visions and what that could mean.

17:38 The visions, while they are more accurate, are also happening sooner. Now, it could be that sooner means more accurate/intense, though that does also make them less useful for Sam. He has no control over them, so possibly if he developed enough he could control the visions.

20:12 So I think we know from this look that it wasn’t all fine for Max. I think he’s a bit of a parallel to both Sam and Dean. He’s obviously connected to Sam via them both being special children, but also he obviously suffered abuse through his father and lost his mother young.

20:35 No. There was nothing. We were totally normal. - Max. This sounds like something he’s reciting, like a party line he’s meant to say.

22:04 So when the neighbour is talking about the abuse Max suffered, Dean is in the same shot - we’re looking over Dean’s shoulder. And when we see Dean, we’re looking over the neighbour’s shoulder. Shot reverse shot. There’s something in the way of Sam’s shot, but I can’t quite tell what. But to me, the neighbour and Dean are connected in these shots.

27:51 Max’s powers seem to be connected to his heightened emotional state. It’s been stated before that being panicked, upset or similar can make you more vulnerable to demonic possession. These are powers that are demonic in origin, so possibly an emotional state like what Max is in makes the powers easier to manifest.

30:18 Max says that he didn’t want to be afraid. He sees his ability as empowering. Sam does at well, right now in a different way, but more so in season four.

31:01 Sam’s expression here. You can just see all the pieces slotting into place.

32:18 Sam talks about being chosen. He’s repeatedly indicated that he sees the visions are a way to do some good. It’s one of the ironies, that Sam is destined as the ‘evil brother’, but he is a good person and sees himself as that. Sam can be more selfish than Dean, who is self sacrificing to a fault. But Sam carries, unknowingly now, this demonic power. It’s an irony because it’s Sam that believes in a higher power that’s good, but he’s not the one chosen for that “good” side.

35:11 Sam seeing Dean die is what motivates him to be able to move the cupboard. Like Max, Sam’s powers are intensified in more intense situations where there’s heightened emotion.

36:14 Max’s death is incredibly tragic. He can’t see anyway out of his situation - he wants to remove his abusers from the world, but when he is convinced that, that won’t work, to him, he is only left with the option of death.

38:49 Dean’s wearing the Deamon shirt here.

[wingtrap]

Season One, Episode Eleven

Scarecrow

4:27 Sam is worried for John, his first question is to ask if John’s alright. He’s trying to explain things to John, saying that they’ve been looking for him. For all they clash, Sam and John do have a much better relationship than Dean and John.

4:50 We find out that it was a demon that killed Mary.

5:12 I would have done anything to protect you from that - John. Again, I think that perhaps Sam and John do have the better relationship. But Sam’s at a stage where being the youngest in the family and being protected isn’t what he’s interested in. Plus, he also doesn’t view a lot of what John does as being protective; he sees it as leaving him out and keeping secrets.

5:23 So the question is why can’t Sam and Dean be involved? John’s lack of communication is one reason why they have so many issues. This is leaving them in the dark, wondering if their father is injured, or thinking that this, what their whole lives have been about, is going to be them sitting on the sidelines and only hearing about it in vague grunts.

5:30 You and your brother, you need to stop looking for me. I don’t know how John thought that would be enough to stop Sam and Dean. He obviously goes with the order tack with Dean, but this is just reverse psychology on Sam. Again, I think he’s trying to protect them, but this just means that they’re going to stumble in blindly.

6:04 Just the whole change to Dean’s posture. He sits up much straighter. It’s fear, and I’d guess that John uses a completely different tone with Dean.

6:32 So, again, John was given them a get out of the way job. That’s really the entire point. Perhaps he felt they got too close to him in Lawrence, or did actually want to check that they were alright.

7:02 Dean’s admiring of John. John is a very good hunter, but you can see a lot in how Dean tries to emulate him. He looks up to John, which to me also goes into seeking John’s approval.

7:55 For Sam, this is really about Jess. He has no memory of Mary, and doesn’t idolise her in the same way Dean does. Jess is what’s motivating Sam, not Mary. But also, I do think that Sam saying that Dean has no way of knowing how Sam feels is a low blow.

8:03 Dean just goes to saying that it isn’t safe. He doesn’t bother arguing with Sam. He recognises that isn’t going to get through to Sam, this is very much trying to be protective. But as he usually does, Sam doesn’t see it that way.

8:11 I don’t understand the blind faith you have in the man - Sam. This is a source of a lot of their issues, and it even comes out in season thirteen when they’re discussing how Dean treats Jack. What Sam sees as blind faith and real admiration, is Dean trying to keep his head down and being a soldier as a result of years of emotional abuse. Dean’s dreadful as expressing this though, so Sam doesn’t see that Dean’s relationship with John is a lot more complicated than the absolute surface level. Dean is trying to be a good son, yes, but that’s only because of what being a “bad” son means, though again Sam just takes that as Dean calling him a bad son. They’re essentially arguing on two different levels and not really communicating.

8:35 You’re a selfish bastard - Dean. This is Sam leaving Dean, again. Sam’s written as quite ignorant of Dean’s emotions, though he gets somewhat better at it in later seasons. I do get Sam’s reasoning for wanting to find John, I just find it easier to relate to Dean.

8:58 That’s what I want you to do - Sam. It’s goading - a go on, prove that I’m right and you’ll just leave. There’s probably more subtext there, but I can’t really unravel it.

I think the most frustrating thing about their argument, particularly here is when they’re just talking past each other and not really discussing anything important. On Sam’s part, he seems to just be reading Dean on a surface level, and it’s fueled by a general sibling rivalry, and the usual annoying older brother. Sam’s usually good with empathising with people, but with Dean, there’s first of all a lot of history, but also Sam can’t take his usual route of comforting with Dean. For Dean, him being bad at communicating emotion is a problem that continually comes up for him in relationships. Grumpy, sarcastic, diverting attention tend to be his norm. Sam is reading Dean on a surface level, partially because that’s what Dean is giving. Here, he’s absolutely wrapped up in the persona that tries to impress and emulate John, and very little of what’s underneath gets through for others to see.

10:27 Well, at least someone got the incredibly subtle reference.

11:28 It’s Meg! I know she’s supposed to be hitch-hiking, but it does immediately seem a little odd that Sam just happens to bump into someone. It’s more obvious once we keep seeing her, but even here it raises an eyebrow. Her and Sam’s relationship is interesting, particularly their connection through Azazel. What is she there to do? She goes the route of being friendly, possibly trying to get Sam on-side. But it’s also a bit of Sam and Dean not being ready for a demon. We saw a number of their misconceptions in Phantom Traveller. Meg looks and acts like a normal person, and certainly isn’t limited to ‘plane crash demon’.

12:03 Just the way Meg says freak. Calling Sam freak keeps coming up.

12:33 I do also think that Meg trusting the van guy does raise an eyebrow. Sam isn’t experienced enough yet to really catch on it - no normal woman would get in a van with someone like that.

17:31 So Meg is wanting to form perhaps a friendship with Sam - maybe to keep an eye on him. She draws attention to herself. She is possibly just bored or thinks it’s fun that he doesn’t recognise her as a demon, but she does kind of put herself in danger by talking to Sam. Especially when he sees her in three different places and it really sticks out that she’s following him.

18:08 Okay, Sam does come across as way too trusting. It’s obvious that he shouldn’t trust Meg, and Sam’s just... completely switched off from being a hunter? Like because he’s not in hunter mode he feels like he’s safe?

21:16 Meg saying that she had to get away from her family. I actually kind of think that’s true - her family is Azazel, and he’s been noted as being fanatical. It would be interesting to know what their relationship is. She’s obviously not telling the whole truth here, but I would think there had been expectations on her. The other thing is that she is trying to connect to Sam, by relating to him. It’s one reason why Sam is so easily trusting - he feels he can relate to Meg.

25:27 Again with the frustration. Sam - don’t just cut Dean off and presume what he’s going to say. Yes, Dean is struggling to get words out and he is probably going to mince them, but listen? It does say that Sam is nowhere near forgiving(?) Dean, though.

25:39 Sam is surprised that Dean wants him to live his own life, but this is more Dean being self-sacrificial. And how Dean says ‘stand up to Dad’ - that little choked laugh, as Dean never could stand up to John. Dean directly says that he admires that about Sam, he’s proud of him. The distance of a phone call (or a prayer) makes it easier for Dean to talk.

31:10 So we get a bit more of Meg’s goal - separating Sam and Dean. She seems particularly upset that Sam is going back to Dean.

41:32 This seems a bit like Meg was going to get Sam to go with her originally. Like with her letting Sam go there’s a little humanity there.

[wingtrap]

Season One, Episode Ten

Asylum

6:14 So presumably this was John giving them coordinates. My best guess would be that another case would again get Sam and Dean away from Lawrence and John. Still, the message gives them nothing to go on in terms of finding him, they don’t even bring up the possibility of tracking it, so unless John has overestimated them, telling them that he’s fine would have just told them that he’s at least not dead.

7:28 This was probably the dynamic growing up. Dean trying to get Sam to follow what John said. As an older sibling, it often becomes their job to appease the parent and try to get the more rebellious younger sibling to not provoke and to keep their head down.

8:17 I do kind of think that Sam probably quite liked that plan.

12:15 See that attitude, right there? That’s why I always get the extra cookie - Dean. Given what we know about Dean’s relationship with John, and we can see the resentment in Dean - it’s likely a reflection of the abuse Dean took to protect Sam. Dean will protect Sam, but that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t get annoyed at Sam when he sees Sam putting himself in danger.

14:13 Sam can really be a terrible liar. It is coming across that he wants to say more about himself, but he’s using distraction, but it’s a little too obvious. You would assume that they’ve already done research before this? If it’s a well known local legend, you’d think the bar would be a better place to hear the story, not trying to get it out of a psychiatrist.

15:16 Sams’ look when he’s asked for his feelings on Dean. Just from this, it seems like he’s conflicted. There’s normal sibling rivalry, but I could also see Sam not particularly enjoying it when Dean tries to step into a parental role too much. Plus they both generally want to go in different directions. Dean wants to keep his head down and follow orders, Sam is willing to ask questions and rebel.

37:58 Then go ahead. I don’t care - Dean. So, Sam’s anger is real here, it’s just magnified. Everything he’s said is true, though he’d never shoot Dean over any of it. We see a bit that Dean doesn’t really care if he dies, low self esteem.

38:08 So presumably the empty gun as a precaution, but I’d also imagine that Dean was hoping that Sam wouldn’t actually go through with things. On the other hand, I think that Dean possibly felt that he had done enough to deserve Sam shooting him.

Had barely anything on this one. It’s mostly stuff we already know for Sam and Dean, perhaps with a few things verbalised.

[wingtrap]

Season One, Episode Five

Bloody Mary

2:06 In later seasons, it’s easy to forget how tense these scenes used to be. The audience knows what’s going to happen. Someone has died in all the openings so far, and there’s a drawn out pause as we’re forced to wait for the inevitable.

3:16 So we got the moment of levity. But it didn’t fully break the tension as we see saying Bloody Mary three times did work. The audience is still aware of the pattern, and the laughter doesn’t make us think that it’s over now. It just makes us think that the characters are going to become complacent. It avoids a child being a victim as well.

11:06 We… had to go to the bathroom. Yeah, brilliant excuse with both of you standing there together.

13:24 This is so obviously a “she’s going to die” scene.

20:23 Well, that answer doesn’t sound suspicious at all. If you’re trying to play innocent, don’t get defensive.

21:47 Are motel’s lights not working? Like, I get your trying to go spooky and all, but just put on the damn light.

26:42 One advantage the show gets out of making Dean (and occasionally Sam) rather unaware of certain things, is that Sam, or reading aloud John’s journal gets to explain things to the audience. If Dean already knew these things, such as spirits being trapped by mirrors, then Sam would have no reason to explain things. They’d have some awkward dialogue discussing things they both already know or require a third person who needs things explained to them.

27:27 I wonder how much of a reflection Bloody Mary needs. Like, you get a reflection in eyes. Would a very blurry reflection work, one where you see a general shape but no actual image?

30:00 Spirits don’t exactly see shades of grey. This gets expanded on in later seasons, and I think we can see a bit of it when Bobby becomes a spirit. He starts by acting pretty much as he did in life and is able to control his actions, and he disintegrates, his actions become much more general. The goal is the same for him, he’s just much less aware of causing harm to others. Presumably, most spirits start by wanting revenge on one particular person or a small group, before they progress to attacking anyone who fits a much more general description or even just generally violent if they don’t have a particular obsession. But ghost lore isn’t something we get much of at all.

30:42 I think honestly both Sam and Dean have enough crap in their pasts to summon Mary. But this shows a lot of the guilt Sam carries. He strongly believes that he’s responsible for Jess’s death.

31:08 Sam isn’t in a place to hear it, but I’m glad that Dean picks up that this is about Jess. Dean is worried for Sam - he knows that Mary’s death essentially killed his Dad.

31:43 Sam not blaming Dean - as I’ve said before, he’s internally focused. And while he’s a lot better at self care and dealing with his own emotions than Dean, Sam can also fiercely blame himself for something. He’s quick to reassure Dean that he didn’t do anything, but he still carries the guilt on himself, and we see as late as season fifteen that a little bit of that still exists.

31:56 This is the first time we see a real rift starting to form between Sam and Dean - that Dean (and therefore the audience) don’t know everything about Jess’s death. My first thought would be (I don't actually remember what it was) that Sam did something direct and/or deliberate to cause Jess’s death.

32:34 I think we see here a bit of the Dean that will sell his soul for Sam. Dean’s willing to let Mary continue, as long as it means keeping Sam safe

34:30 Why not move the mirror to somewhere it’s the only reflective surface?

37:26 So we get why Sam feels so much guilt - that he had visions of Jess dying. This is our very first hint at Sam’s abilities. Here, of course, it could be nothing - Sam being worried that his hunting past would come back to haunt him and a repeated nightmare of Jess dying coincidentally coming true.

37:32 You were so desperate to be normal. If Sam wanted to be normal, then he thinks he’s abnormal. This plays out in Sam being a special child and Lucifer’s vessel, but it also plays into Sam just being a hunter, and not being able to get out of that. It gets into that Sam was just playing at being normal with Jess and Stanford. He wasn’t ever going to get out of hunting, and Dean goes through something similar with Lisa. Both boys, at some stage, are faced with the idea of wanting an apple pie life they’re not destined to have.

40:51 In what Sam says to Charlie, it’s a lot of what he himself needs to hear - that it wasn’t his fault Jess died, he needs to forgive himself and nothing he could have done would have stopped it. It’s reinforced by Dean saying that it’s good advice to Sam.

41:56 So we see Jess for the first time. I think it’s just that Sam is thinking about Jess, it’s a reflection of what Sam’s dealing with. He possibly just doesn’t want Dean to worry, but I don’t think it’s entirely clear - other than dramatic tension - why Sam is keeping his vision a secret.

[wingtrap]

Season Two, Episode Two

Everybody Loves a Clown

3:24 I can’t remember being that gullible and trusting as a kid. Clowns randomly rocking up to your place in the middle of the night isn’t normal, kid.

4:58 Sam can’t get out that John died, and visibly, he’s more upset than Dean. Dean is just as affected, if not possibly more, but Sam hasn’t been taught to squash down his emotions in the same way Dean has.

5:17 No. Nothing. - Dean. He’s trying to protect Sam. It’s something he wants to ignore, because it’s an order he could never carry out.

6:45 Don’t patronise me, Dean. - Sam. Dean’s learned from an early age that expressing feelings, and especially mushy ones is something they don’t do. He buries them, rather than dealing with them. For him, talking things out is crying on shoulders, slow dancing and something only girls do. But it leaves him with no way of getting stuff out, so it comes out in some rather destructive ways - drinking, violence.

7:00 All you do is sit out here every day buried under this damn car. - Sam. That is essentially what Dean is doing - he’s burying things. Sam gets outwardly angry, but Dean tends to let things simmer underneath and in this case literally buries himself. The only difference isn’t that he’s voluntarily living under a rock, but rather a car.

7:19 The only thing I can do, is I can work on the car. - Dean. Dean does the same sort of thing at the start of season seven. It’s again a problem he has no way of dealing with. Being active makes him feel better.

10:00 Ellen recognises both Sam and Dean on sight. But they’ve never heard of her.

16:25 Clowns and flying are their ordinary and easy to talk about fears.

14:59 Another attempt at distraction.

15:24 Bunch of scumbags. - Dean. Not you. - Jo. What Jo describes usually happens with guys trying to sleep with her is pretty much exactly what Dean does and was trying to do. In a way she’s calling him out, but Dean is also calling himself a scumbag here. He says ‘guess not’ then drops his eyes.

17:03 You’re awfully quick to jump on this job. - Dean. This is possibly Sam’s way of trying to cheer Dean up, particularly from that Sam’s excuse is that it’s what John would have wanted. Dean’s always shown Sam that he acts because John wants him to. But Sam hasn’t fully lost the desire for revenge and this is probably better than sitting around the Roadhouse playing cat’s cradle.

22:47 But you two, you should go to school. The manager, owner? describes the circus as a refuge for outcasts. He sees Sam and Dean as ordinary. Because on one hand they should be ordinary, but on the other Sam hasn’t been ordinary since he was six months old. They don’t fit in. The Roadhouse is a place they could fit in, but most hunters don’t trust them, and especially not Sam.

23:40 Dad would have wanted me to stick with the job. - Sam. The best way I can read this is that Sam thinks he should stay for Dean’s sake. John’s never been much of a motivator when it comes to Sam.

23:54 Since he died. - Sam. Dean’s reaction says that he very much has a problem with that. Sam being disobedient was probably the source of a lot of abuse for Dean. It’s only now that John has died that Sam’s decided to toe the line. I don’t think Dean understands it.

25:03 Literal smoke and mirrors. Possibly nothing, but neither Sam or Dean are saying exactly what they think and are instead using smoke and mirrors to distract.

30:16 I don't care how you deal with this, but you have to deal with it. - Sam. This reflects their conversation earlier at Bobby’s. Dean doesn’t know how to deal, at least not in a healthy way. For him, the two options are burst out crying or kill a few monsters

[wingtrap]

Season One, Episode Twenty Two

Devil’s Trap

1:35 Deja vu.

1:59 Dean’s close to panicking here, trying to get himself to calm down and think. Sam still has the anger from the previous scene.

3:57 Bobby! That one is. This is whiskey. - The guy knows hunting, and drinking.

5:14 Normal year, I hear of, say, three demonic possessions. Maybe four, tops - Bobby Three or four? Oh you poor, sheltered man.

7:01 I’m fairly sure this is the only time they use such a complicated devil’s trap. That would have been a pain to draw up every time - or easy to get one of the symbols wrong.

8:34 Because she really is a girl, that’s why - Bobby. It does seem very quaint now, after later seasons where there’s isn’t a moral dilemma about killing demons possessing people. On first watching this, I did think this was rather contrived. The girl Meg’s possessing took a seven storey fall. If she is alive, she’s in a lot of pain and unlikely to live if Meg leaves. To me, it wasn’t an argument at all. Her alive just prolonged her suffering.

10:11 I do like Nicki Aycox acting here. She’s presumably making the exorcism work on her own though her gasps, shakes of the head, expressions. She does a very convincing job of it.

13:04 I have to say, I’m very much with Dean on this one. Being alive through a demon is not a way to live at all.

17:26 Bobby is such a great character. It’s hard to believe that they honestly had him as only in this episode. He’s sarcastic and grumpy, but also genuinely helpful and supportive and you can see how he would look out for Sam and Dean.

19:37 You’re selfish, you know that? - Dean. I do somewhat agree with this assessment of Sam. It’s the result of being the younger sibling, really and not having the same emotional burden that was placed on Dean. Sam is incredibly caring, but he can also get too focused on something and I think he struggles to look out for Dean emotionally. I think Sam looks up to Dean as a hunter - leather jacket, classic rock, Impala - Dean’s the annoying older brother so Sam doesn’t react in the same way he would for someone he doesn’t know as well.

23:51 How the heck did they manage to fill the tanks up with holy water?

27:38 So now both times the Colt’s been used, it’s been to save Sam by John and now Dean.

30:10 For you and Dad, the things I’m willing to do or kill. It just ah… it scares me sometimes - Dean. Dean can be quite dark. And his priority is to protect Sam - more so than his father - and we see that in his deal at the end of the second season, Dean wouldn’t have made that deal for anyone else. We do also see Dean kill in cold blood, and in season four, learn that he tortured in hell and was good at it. Dean is a good person, but I think he does sometimes see too much blood on his hands.

30:50 I’m proud of you - John. Azazel gives himself away with this line. Dean knows that John would never be proud of him, not for wasting a bullet even if it was for saving Sam. I think John would have accepted that, but he wouldn’t have complemented Dean over it. Sam and John had a catharsis already, but for Dean, it’s the demon speaking. This is the closest he comes to a similar discussion with his father.

32:45 Sam’s moving just subtly towards Dean. He’s willing to trust Dean over John.

33:32 I think that the demon’s pretty much baiting them. Wait until Dean pulls the trigger, and leave so that just John die, though it’s also taunting, a ‘you’re finally in the same room as me after twenty four years and you don’t have the guts.’

39:27 Dean’s lost a potentially lethal amount of blood and he asks Sam to check on John first.

41:06 I think that this is one scene that really says he obsessed John is. He’s not often disappointed in Sam, but John blames him for not being able to kill his own father.

41:13 Killing this demon comes first. Before me, before everything - John. In the same shot is Dean, bleeding out. That’s not John’s concern - it’s Sam’s. Sam can be obsessed, but he’s willing to put his father and Dean before the demon. John isn’t.

[wingtrap]

Season One, Episode Twenty One

Salvation

2:15 Salvation was created for sinners - Pastor. This is a theme the show deals with. If those who have sinned (Dean in Hell, Cas with the leviathans, Gadreel, Lucifer, for example and it would be interesting to examine how different characters relate to salvation) - can have salvation. On a lesser scale, it’s at what point do we (along with Sam and Dean) trust someone? But it’s also about what characters seek salvation and work towards it, which ones want salvation but aren’t willing to put the work in and which ones aren’t interested in being saved at all.

2:48 So this is when we get confirmation that Meg is a demon. We also find that she has some ranking as a demon, as the hallowed ground doesn’t work on her.

19:16 One thing Meg is saying is that she - they - are scared. Her focus is on getting the gun, which for a positive note, should tell John that the demon thinks it will work.

19:53 This is such a manipulative tactic - giving John a task Meg knows he can’t complete. She’s essentially gaslighting him, you can’t be bothered to work out this impossible task (that we’ll ignore I set up), so it’s your fault your friends die.

21:12 Giving up going after the demon is pretty big for John. It does show that Meg potentially killing his friends (and likely Sam and Dean) is a step too far for him. I think Sam is very understanding here of what he’s stepping away from.

29:03 Dean honestly looks slightly scared there. What the heck are you thanking me for? You dying?

31:49 I have to say, I was expecting them to test the Colt on another demon. It’s nicely subverted by the guy shooting Meg instead. Either he knows it’s not the actual Colt, or was willing for Meg to die. It’s an interesting little bit of there being different demons with different agendas. They’re not all working together or in agreeance - there’s potential for demons to be working against each other. And as with Meg later with Crowley - enemy of my enemy is my friend.

31:58 I do like that Meg takes a bit to shout that she got shot before realising that she should be dead.

35:26 We see the yellow eyes for the first time.

37:04 I don’t care - Sam I do - Dean. Sam’s not often irrational, but I think right now his world is boiling down to one thing - get the thing that killed Jess. He’s not thinking of anything beyond that. For Dean, he’s more willing to let the demon go.

37:33 Sam’s sitting in the same place John was here. Sam’s in John’s shoes - they’ve both had to give up going after the demon. For different reasons, but both have the stronger connection to the two main victims - John to Mary, Sam to Jess - and both have in this episode given up an opportunity to potentially kill the demon.

37:56 Sam says, without hesitation, that yes he is willing to sacrifice himself. It puts Sam and Dean in opposition. Sam is willing to sacrifice himself to kill the demon. Dean is willing to let the demon go so Sam lives.

38:05 It’s the only things we’ve ever cared about - Sam. They cared about their family. It’s why Dean isn’t willing to let Sam go - he places a very high value on his little brother. Sam still feels like an outsider in the family, as he sees as the surface similarity between John and Dean and the seeming agreement between them with Dean as the good soldier.

38:35 This is far more about Jess, I think. Sam is nowhere near over her death and for him, killing the demon is what’s going to make it better. But it could be also that their whole lives have been about hunting the demon, without that, Sam could have gone to school, made friends, have a crappy part-time job and not be constantly aware of the supernatural. I think that Sam feels like he’s already sacrificed more because he’s the one that wants the normal life.

Another thing is their expressions. Sam’s is twisted up, whereas Dean has far less expression. He’s almost sad, in a way.

39:01 Sometimes I feel like I’m barely holding together - Dean. That’s a significant line for Dean at this stage. Part of his persona is that he has it all together. There’s no doubts, no thoughts of another life. Nothing complex in what he wants. It’s a little glimpse that it isn’t true. There are fears, and he’s not all his persona makes him out to be.

[wingtrap]

Season One, Episode Nine

Home

3:30 So we see an old photo of John. It’s what he’s literally left behind, but also metaphorically. It’s the old John, the person he was before Mary died - and to me, this represents him leaving that behind. We also see what looks to be a card, labeled ‘Dad’ - afterwards, it was much more militaristic, we can see that in Dean’s ‘Sirs’. I doubt John would of had a use anymore for cute father’s day cards.

3:58 And the photo of them together as a family. Off the top of my head, other than the 300th episode, this could be the only time we see all four Winchesters in the same frame. I might be remembering wrong though.

4:37 So now we actively get to see Sam having a premonition. This establishes (or will establish) that his vision of Jess wasn’t coincidence or a one-off. Now, he does have a connection to this incidence, so that might make him more sensitive.

7:18 So, I don’t think that Dean is overly angry at Sam for keeping a secret, annoyed, yes and maybe worried for him, but not angry. As with a lot of Dean’s anger, it comes from elsewhere. And here it’s fear - the idea of facing whatever killed Mary, or suddenly being close to it. He’s a soldier who suddenly has no idea how to act and the person who always gave him orders isn’t answering the phone.

7:27 Yeah, you can see here that Dean’s upset. He’s scared for what having visions could potentially mean for Sam and it scares him to go back to where his mother died.

9:49 Like in the last episode, this family has a lot of connections to the Winchesters. Two kids, mum - blonde hair, to me she looks enough like Mary, and a father who isn’t present. To this family, the house is a positive change and they’re hoping to have good memories there. For Sam and Dean, the events in that house were a negative change.

11:31 Sam’s focus here is the family, really. He does want to get whatever killed Jess and Mary, but I think his concern also lies with the family. For Dean, he’s angry and panicking because he doesn’t have his usual anchor points; he’s scared and Sam is trying to get him to act and think too fast and too much.I also think that it wouldn’t be a particularly nice thought to think that Mary was a malevolent spirit.

11:51 If this was another other job, what would we do? - Dean. He’s trying to ground himself in rules he knows. He knows how to work a regular haunting, and he’s trying to get back to that same process.

12:37 You know Dad’s story as well as I do. John probably told the story over and over. It seems like they’ve heard to countless times over the years.

12:43 And he never had a theory about what did it? - Sam. I’m not sure here, I’m bad at reading tone, but this could be either that John could never work out what killed Mary or that it was never a topic up for discussion - maybe he’d tell the story of how she died when he was drunk, but refuse to continue into research and analysing when sober. But it does seem surprising that even after twenty-two years, John lacks even a theory.

12:49 We asked him enough times. As we see with John pushing Sam and Dean away and being out of contact when he’s actively going after it, they were always pushed away from that. John never fully saw them as being capable, though he was likely also trying to protect them.

13:15 Dean’s expression says that, no, this is not just another job. But to keep sane he’s going to have to treat it like one. He’s very emotionally invested, but is unable to let that show.

13:56 This phone call is the most emotional we’ve seen Dean. He’s scared.

I don’t know if you get them. The thought has crossed Dean’s mind that John is dead. It’s likely something he doesn’t think on much, but saying something like that, entertaining the notion that John isn’t listening to the messages, is to Dean thinking that John will never hear them, or doesn’t want to.

14:16 I don’t know what to do. Dean’s been given orders, and had following them to the letter reinforced his whole life. Now, he’s potentially facing what his whole life has been built around that he’s left on his own. Dean does consider Sam to be a good hunter, but he also wants to protect him.

14:33 This phone call is one reason to really not like John Winchester. We know he heard that, and a call back was too much for him. In my first watch through, I wasn’t picking up on the same signs of abuse in Dean, and I think I thought that John must be imprisoned somewhere or otherwise needed rescuing. In this episode when he’s gotten Dean begging him to help and we see he’s fine? This just showed so much into how John treated his kids.

16:56 He was a stubborn bastard, I remember that. And whatever the game, he hated to lose - that old Marine thing. But he sure loved Mary, he doted on those kids. So we find out that John had a background as a Marine, which was likely one reason he was able to adapt to hunting - he went into that mindset, which is of course not the right mindset for being a father. There’s also a bit of his single mindedness, and perhaps a bit of ruthlessness.

18:45 I went to MIssouri, and I learned the truth. That would have been life-changing for John. From what the mechanic said, he was already pretty much convinced that something killed Mary, it was just MIssouri telling him about the supernatural.

18:54 As we know later, John is with MIssouri. I wonder how close he is to Sam and Dean right now? They could be meters apart.

28:44 I do wish they kept Missouri on call. She would have just been a kind, gentle and wise spirit on the show, and she so often says what Sam and Dean need to hear.

35:02 Sam being it danger. It’s the one thing that could get Dean running into the house to potentially face whatever killed their Mum.

35:55 If Mary has been a spirit for twenty-two years, she seems to have lasted a long time. She still comes across as sane, though appearing and speaking is likely as special case for Sam and Dean - it’s possible that she stayed to try and protect Sam and Dean, and was much less susceptible to turning violent or forgetting herself. But the lore isn’t overly indepth for this sort of thing.

37:12 Sam, I’m sorry. - Mary. It’s arguable that she’s apologising for her deal that caused her to die, Sam and Dean to become hunters and for her not to be there as a mother. I think it could be the reason she stayed, out of guilt. I know the plot of Mary having been a hunter and her deal came later, so I think that the thought here is that she’s sorry for not being there for them - though it’s then odd that she doesn’t apologise to both boys. Her dialogue is very much directed at Sam.

38:19 Possibly, these photos are the first physical evidence Sam and Dean have had of a happy childhood. Dean would of had vague memories, but actually seeing the photos, it’s a bit of proof that their family was once normal and happy.

40:28 That boy… he has such powerful abilities. We get a little more into Sam’s visions. Missouri says, plural, abilities, which suggests that there’s more than just visions. But we also learn that they’re unusually powerful.

41:05 John Winchester, I could just slap you. Please do. Hard.

All his last lines are meant to be a cliffhanger. I really don’t get much more out of them than that, as they don’t go anyway to actually explaining why John can’t be in contact with Sam and Dean. There is that we know know that John suspects something, but nothing more than that.

[wingtrap]

Season One, Episode Eight

Bugs

3:17 Sam and Dean arguing about whether they should get day jobs or hustle pool to get money. Dean says that he just finds pool fun and easy, but he also says that is how they were raised. I think there’s a bit of that if Dean was put in an ordinary day job, he’d feel uncomfortable and out of place. He feels that his place is hunting, it’s partially John’s influence. Sam, on the other hand, can see himself being much more normal.

3:37 Dean watches Oprah. That’s a little of a sign of him not being quite so stereotypically male as he tries to project.

4:13 Work, work, work. No time to spend my money - Dean. In this season, Dean’s very much at a high point of emotions. Here, hunting is the downer - whereas later, hunting becomes what he does to escape. He reaches a point where spending his money - alcohol, girls - isn’t even coming up in his mind. It’s really a note for later seasons, but you can see depression there, as Dean is no longer interested in things that he once associated with pleasure.

9:05 I’d take our family over normal any day - Dean. It’s interesting, because as we see with Lisa and Ben, and also the bunker Dean would like normal. However, he his priority is Sam - and by extension, John and hunting. Dean only goes for normal when there isn’t an element of guilt in doing so.

11:24 He never treated you like that, you were perfect - Sam. Sam associates the father’s behaviour with John, whereas Dean doesn’t see the connection at all. You can see Dean’s reaction to Sam’s line though. He feels the exact opposite to Sam - that John treated Sam well. It’s a bit of how blind Sam can be to the emotional abuse Dean went through and how much he was shielded. Sam likely experienced only a fraction of what Dean did - and Dean likely reduced John’s criticisms by playing a role.

11:36 A lot of John’s problems with Sam stemmed from Sam not engaging in hunting. Sam didn’t have to develop the same protective mechanisms as Dean, and was able to be more rebellious.

15:11 Dean and his long showers. This is a man who has used the word “marvellous” to describe water pressure.

16:52 Okay, they don’t actually outline bodies like that.

18:30 I do like Dean’s little awkward smile when he’s asked if they’re serial killers. Well, not of humans anyway.

19:36 Mostly, he’s too disappointed in his freak son - Matt. We’re connecting Matt to Sam. Sam sees a lot of himself in Matt, and how Larry treats him. Sam has the same distant relationship with John, and as Matt is interested in insects, Sam is interested in things that John doesn’t approve of. Dean’s “You do?” is also telling. Dean sees himself as the freak son - Sam’s the one who went to college, got a girlfriend and could settle down. All Dean can see himself doing is hunting - he sees education, serious relationships and settling down as pipe dreams. But I think Dean is also annoyed somewhat at Sam, there’s a bit of jealousy there.

19:57 Kid should stick with his family - Dean. They’re really talking about Sam here. Dean was incredibly hurt by Sam leaving, in 5x16, Dean describes Sam leaving as one of the worst nights of his life. It’s a source of much of the tension between Sam and Dean. Sam doesn’t read much more into it than Dean being against him getting out. But it’s a lot more complicated than that for Dean. One is that Sam essentially abandoned him without saying anything, Dean was left to face John alone and has tried to shelter Sam as best he can, though Sam doesn’t recognise this. It’s a bit of younger/older brother, but it’s also Dean seeing himself in the parental role and Sam only seeing Dean in a brother role.

22:57 How about telling him to respect his old man? - Dean. Possibly, one source of Dean’s anger is that Sam being rebellious would have made it harder on Dean. We know Dean often suffered punishment so Sam didn’t have to. You could imagine Dean trying to get Sam to toe the line to protect both of them. It’s realistic, but it can be frustrating how ignorant Sam can be over the way Dean was treated growing up.

23:09 I respected him. But no matter what I did, it was never good enough - Sam. 23:36 You know how most dads are when their kid scores a full ride? Proud - Sam. Sam has been harmed by John. I’m not articulating myself well, but Sam was emotionally free enough to go to college.

23:52 Sam sees this as Dean being dismissive - as I said, it frustrates me. Dean’s hurt here.

24:02 Sam, Dad was never disappointed in you. Never - Dean. But he was always disappointed in Dean. Possibly, John saw Sam as the little kid, something precious to be protected, but didn’t bother getting to actually know Sam.

24:11 He was scared. He was afraid of what could happen to you if he wasn’t around - Dean. Sam says “What are you talking about?” He’s entirely unaware of this. John was interested in protecting Sam. I think he likely expressed a lot of his fears in anger.

24:17 But even when you two weren’t talking, he used to swing by Stanford whenever he could. I think, possibly, that John was proud of Sam. He wasn’t able to say so, but he was still protective of Sam and was willing to keep his distance while still trying to keep Sam safe. I think in their argument, Sam actually wanted his father near and to be emotionally closer, but John read Sam likely at his word, and kept is distance.

On reflection, it’s that Dean doesn’t realise he was abused. He’s got no frame of reference for what a normal upbringing looks like. He knows objectively the most kids aren’t raised on the road as hunters, but he isn’t really exposed to a healthy parent/child dynamic. Dean doesn’t think of himself as having been abused, so he doesn’t connect that emotional trauma to his behaviour as an adult. In 15x09 “I don’t know why I get so angry.” Sam on the other hand, did have a better parental figure - Dean, so Sam is more aware and responsive to John being abusive.

30:29 I do actually like Matt’s fascination with insects. It’s odd, yes, but you can see genuine care and interest there.

32:26 Make him listen? What were you thinking? - Dean. Again, this very much reflects their relationship with John. Dean gets that Matt isn’t going to get through to his father, as Dean couldn’t get through to John. His instinct is to take over from Sam.

32:57 And I think that the father, Larry, is acting a lot like what we could expect John to act. He’s dismissive of his son and his concerns. He easily goes to shouting - the way he shouts “Matt, get inside.”

[wingtrap]

Season One, Episode Two

Wendigo

2:27 Can we just reflect that calling your girlfriend and telling her that everything is going to be fine has happened three times already? Never say that you are fine! Bad things happen, it’s like smashing a mirror - look at Sam and Dean, they’re ‘fine’ all the time!

4:12 What is the wendigo doing? Laps? Calm down on the fitness, mate.

4:48 There’s a gold ring around Jess’s picture. It looks like a wedding ring, as though this is also a memorial for the life she and Sam could of had.

5:05 Sam, while not overly so here, is angry. That’s something he shares with John - he reacts to loss with anger, and wants to do something about it. The interview was still there for him, and for Sam, he feels he needs to do something.

5:51 Dean offering that Sam drive says a lot. Dean barely ever lets anyone else drive Baby. It’s this silent recognition that Sam’s hurting and Dean tries to give him something that makes Dean feel better - driving the impala.

5:58 The way the trees are going past looks rather fake here - the special effects have come so far.

7:00 Lost Creek. Sam and Dean are certainly lost.

8:30 Dean wants to do the case; Sam wants to just go and find John. I think this again shows Sam’s similarity with John - his ability to become single-mindedly focused on a goal. What matters for Sam now is Jess, and the wendigo and this girl are an annoying obstacle to doing that. Not to say that Sam doesn’t care about other people, but he is a lot more internally focused than Dean. Actually, I think that there’s something there. Sam is internally focused - he’s selfish, but he’s better at recognising his own emotions and dealing with internal conflict. Dean is externally focused - he’s selfless, but he’s worse at dealing with his emotions and internal conflict.

8:41 Dean seems happy that Sam is ‘all shoot first, ask questions later’ - this he knows how to deal with.

9:19 This is so a wow, you think she’ll sleep with me as well look.

12:38 I think it’s probable that Sam would take the lead when interviewing people and Dean would take the lead when they were doing the actual hunting of the monster. It’s one thing that makes them so strong as a team - complementary strengths. And also one thing that possibly attracted Sam to law, there’s a lot of surface similarities with what he does hunting; getting people to admit to things they’re embarrassed or uncomfortable about, research, connecting evidence together.

18:34 It’s probably the most honest I’ve ever been with a woman. Ever. - Dean That says so much about what Dean’s relationships are like outside his family. He lies, pretends to be someone else and even this very surface confession (that he and Sam are brothers, looking for their father) is barely anything. He’s never opened up, especially emotionally to anyone, and we see now in the rift between him and Cas (first half of season fifteen) as well as elsewhere how Dean’s inability to be honest about himself and with himself can really hurt him, even though he does it to try and protect himself.

19:02 I’m so looking at this shot of them all supposedly in some deep back-wood and thinking that there’s probably a road or suburbia ten feet away.

25:07 You want to tell me what’s going on in that freaky head of yours? I reckon that’s the first time someone uses the word freak in relation to Sam.

25:47 We see a bit more of Sam’s frustration. To him, hunting the wendigo is doing nothing; it’s inaction and what he wants is to be doing something. To Sam, the most useful thing he could be doing right now is finding John and avenging Jess. To Dean, he thinks the most important thing is to keep hunting and to keep doing what he’s been trained and brought up to do.

26:05 I think it’s interesting that Dean is comfortable with John having ‘passed on the torch’ as it were. I think Dean would be fine if John contacted once in a blue moon, it’s actually John being dead that gets to Dean. But this is a positive inheritance from John, like it’s recognising that Sam and Dean are good enough hunters to go out on their own.

26:10 I think he wants us to pick up where he left off. So the question becomes - what is John now doing now, why has he stopped? Actually, with the journal, Dean is still in the familiar cycle of following orders.

26:38 Dad’s given us a job to do, and I intend to do it. Yeah, I think is this Dean continuing to follow orders. Dean’s instinct is to do what John says; Sam’s is to ask questions.

26:55 It’s the only thing I can think about - Sam. There’s so much in this scene. But again, reinforcement that Sam is obsessive, he’s capable of becoming so fixated on something, as John was, that it consumes him.

27:23 How do you do it? How does Dad do it? - Sam. Dean looking away just says that he doesn’t do it - all the anger is there, he’s just not able to express it, other than in the violence of hunting. And a lot of John’s anger was directed at Dean, rather than Sam. Neither are coping with their anger.

29:58 And I, for one, want to kill this evil son of a bitch. - Sam. Sam, parroting what Dean said. It’s a silent message that he’s going to agree with Dean, at least for now.

34:48 Why are flashlights aways so weak? You’re going into a pitchblack abandoned mine with a wendigo and you’ve brought a light appropriate for reading a book in bed.

36:22 Dean’s so obviously not right, but his instinct is to pretend, even rather badly, that he’s fine and to go hunt. Burying pain is what Dean’s always done.

39:02 This is so obviously a ‘he’s right behind you’ shot.

39:35 Sam putting himself out the front. It says that he’s just as willing as Dean to be the one who protects others. I don’t know quite how to phrase it, but it could be that Dean’s taking on pain so others don’t have to, and Sam’s taking on danger so others don’t have to? Like, it’s subtly different. And for all Sam’s ability to be like John in a single-minded obsession and anger, Sam does what he can to still care for other people.

40:29 How the hell did it take so long for Sam and Dean (and John for that matter) to become suspicious? If they attract a crowd of police and whatever else so often. And Sam’s right there talking to the cops, like, so off and make it like you never existed.

40:39 Oh look, girlfriend of the week.

[wingtrap]

Season Two, Episode Five

Simon Said

11:05 Maybe we’re all a bunch of psychic freaks, maybe we’re all supposed to be.

The main thread of this season is the question of what’s going on with Sam. They know of Sam, Max and now Andy. It is interesting that what Sam gets is that they might all be killers. He seems to slot himself quite easily into the role of the bad guy.

11:19

Dean says that Sam isn’t a murderer. But we know that Sam is capable of killing, we’ve seen him do it throughout the show. He’s perhaps more willing to talk things out than Dean and doesn’t seek out violence in the same way, but Sam is still quite capable of going to some fairly dark places.

12:50

Do you want to make it a bit more obvious that you’re trailing him, there Dean?

13:24

So, if we didn’t already pick up what’s up this makes it obvious. Dean would never just give the Impala away like that. It’s played for laughs in a way, Dean’s very easy ‘sure, man!’ But this manipulative power that Andy has seems very easy. From the examples we’ve seen, he can so far ask anyone for anything. It’s more his personality that’s stopping him from exploiting it more than he already is.

14:31

Quite easily, Sam has stopped one of his visions coming true. Not much emphasis is placed on it, as Sam sees Andy in the Impala right after, but it feels important that the visions are not inevitable. It also wasn’t a major struggle to stop it, although it isn’t always obvious what the consequences of stopping the event will be.

15:05

Like stopping what happens in the vision is quite easy, something else is likely to happen. Though this is obviously being orchestrated by whoever is on the phone.

15:57

We obviously think, or are meant to think that it was Andy on the phone. So when he expresses upset at the guy being dead - is he telling the truth? We know he openly manipulates people. And if he is telling the truth, then that opens up who exactly is talking on the phone. Plus the thread of if all the children like Sam are inevitably the bad guy.

16:37

It’s also a good thing that Andy didn’t decide to look in the boot.

22:45

I got everything I need.

Andy is living in a van, much as Sam and Dean also live out of their car a lot of the time. And Andy has the ability to easily just talk his way into a house, into a normal life. It’s a bit of the question of Andy actively choosing that lifestyle, versus Sam feeling as though he’s being trapped into his lifestyle.

23:56

Dean’s very pleased reaction at Andy making a Star Wars reference. Just Dean being a pop culture nerd.

26:37

The white dress (nightie, really) is reminding me a lot of the dress that Jess wears when Sam hallucinates her. At a basic level, though, it could just be a sign of innocence, or possibly purity. Ansem is killing her for her relationship with Andy.

30:49

The reveal here of Ansem having more control over his abilities through practice sets up a lot for later. And it adds the question, that’s never answered, of what Sam could do if he did practice. Although until he starts drinking demon blood, it’s hard to tell how he could have practised. 

31:40

Tracey… she’s trying to come between us. 

Ansem is the brother who wants him and Andy to be brothers; whereas Andy was completely unaware of that relationship. It’s not an exact mirror of Sam and Dean’s relationship, but there is also an aspect of tension between them in wanting to be brothers, but also needing separation.

32:11

The man with the yellow eyes.

Ansem says this as though it’s obvious and he’s not sure why Andy doesn’t know this. Also, with the last bit, it’s Azazel that’s in the background pushing the wedge between Ansem and Andy; and it’s also him that’s going to divide Sam and Dean. 

32:59

It’s interesting that Ansem sees being away from Andy as being alone, and that his solution is to isolate Andy. It’s a similar sense of Sam and Dean, while they are beginning to make connections in this season - Bobby, Ellen, Jo, Ash - they really only rely on each other. And while neither actively tries to isolate the other, this does happen just through their job and lifestyle. 

32:36

And one brother kills the other. There’s a lot of potential hinted foreshadowing here, especially with the task John gave Dean just before he died.

35:49

We get back to the same argument. Sam is against Andy’s action of killing Ansem, but it’s difficult to tell what the alternative would have been, and it would seem a reasonable to say that a consequence of Andy not taking action would have been Dean dying. Dean defends Andy in much the same way he defends Sam, he sees the good in them both. Sam, however, possibly seeing himself in Andy, doesn’t. As Sam sees himself to be a killer and dangerous to those around him, he also sees Andy in that light.

35:57

In the right circumstances, everyone’s capable of murder. Everyone. - Sam

There’s a certain amount of threat there. The threat that Sam or Dean may well, in the right circumstances, be capable of killing the other. Although we’re left with the question of what way around such an event would take place.

36:45

The episode is bookended by the Roadhouse. While they’ve only just discovered it, it’s a place of refuge and where Sam and Dean can get help. It’s their connection to people outside of just the two of them, and along with Bobby, their support network.

37:28

However, in contrast to that - it rather should be their support network. Dean isn’t interested in Ellen’s help, whereas Sam wants that help. Dean’s been taught from a young age to rely on himself only, so accepting such assistance seems foreign to him.