#tm 3x08

[wardrobemoments]

Jane in s3e08, Ball of Fire

[robntunney]

personal space? idk her: [50/?]

[fadeintoyou1993]

maybe im too compromised because of the levels of self projection i can fit in her but i haaate when ppl say robin's character was ruined in s4 because no she wasn't..... in s3 she was meaner yeah but she was also more closed off at the beginning (i'd say she started opening up in 3x02 in the scene where she convinces steve and dustin to let her help them) but that's literally just masking #tome on top of her not wanting to be close to people because she doesn't want to Risk It but she desperately wants to be known - her literally spilling her credentials to dustin and steve and looking extremely pleased when they're like Holy shit!!!!!!!! - by Who She Is and as s3 goes on she just keeps unmasking and peeling all of these layers as she gets closer and more comfortable with steve / dustin / erica to the point where in 3x07 she just. Comes out to steve. and they're goofing off of each other immediately after and robin literally has a scene in 3x08 where she unmasks so heavily bc shes going through a lot of Anxiety TM and steve even tells her like hey robin........... breathe sis...... like. This was always there. She was literally ALWAYS that way. the fact that shes more openly Herself (and like maya said, aggressively weird) only means that she finally feels comfortable to Be That Way (in rebel robin she says she would never try to fit in again, but she would love to have frends/be a part of a group of friends she fits in with just as she is) and like.. that is just so real to me im sorry i get her so ion know everytime someone says s4 "ruined" robin's character im like ?

[corazonconagujeritos]

vargesz:

Lisbon: You’re looking a little creaky. Jane: Yeah. Well, a cattle prod will do it to you. Lisbon: Oh, the doctor says there are no lasting effects. Jane: Well, that doctor should try it himself sometime…  Well, that was a big smile. Lisbon: Of course I’m glad you’re back, but I’m also glad we finally solved one without you. Jane: You were kidnapped and delivered to me. That counts as solving one? Lisbon: Hightower and the team found us. Jane: But if I hadn’t held off Rachel, they would have found us dead in a burned out house. Lisbon: Oh, you held off Rachel. Yeah… Where’s my apple? Jane: Your what? Lisbon: My apple. I asked you to get me an apple. Jane: I come through the valley of death, and all you can think about is your stomach… A piece of fruit. Lisbon: That’s right. Jane: An apple. Lisbon: Yes. Jane: Well, that’s just plain selfish. Lisbon: Selfish? Jane: Yes, it is. Now I… Lisbon: Me, selfish? Jane: You’re on my couch. I’m trying to have a cup of tea. Have you finished? You call me creaky. I’ve been cattle-prodded all week. I just wanna have a rest and a cup of tea and a little sleep. Lisbon: Wish I had a cattle prod.

[kythwena]

Good hug. The Magicians | S03E08: Six Short Stories About Magic (2018)

“I know you can’t take me with you,” he said quietly. The dead didn’t mince words. “You’re right,” Quentin said. “I can’t. That’s what the sloth said.” “So why did you come?” Now he did look at Quentin, accusingly. Quentin had worried that he would have a gaping wound in his neck, but it was smooth and whole. He’s not a zombie, he’s a ghost, Quentin reminded himself. No, a shade. “I wanted to see you again.” The Magician King (The Magicians, #2) by Lev Grossman

[deantransgressions2]

3x08 a very supernatural christmas

#1: flashback!sam was trying to get answers about what john does for a living and dean refuses to answer. he then asks “is that why we never talk about...mom?” and flashback!dean flips his shit and screams “shut up! don’t you ever talk about mom! ever!”. dean is like 12 in this flashback so this isn’t really a transgression because he was a kid, but it just shows how sam was never given any information to encourage him to join his family’s revenge mission, or feel like part of their family unit. 

time tag: 6:20

#2: when they bust into that santa guy’s house, dean starts to sing silent night to pretend they’re carolers. silent night?? the worst christmas song of all time. what about literally any of the others. sigh. wanted to see them shake to all i want for christmas is you. jazz hands and all. 

time tag: 11:40

#3: gaslighting sam throughout the entire episode about their childhood christmases

time tag: whole time

[inthiswhisper]

so... as a child, sam gave dean the present he saved for his dad because dean’s the one who made an effort on christmas, and dean still wears and cherishes that present to this very day?? and now sam put up decorations to help dean celebrate their (supposed) last christmas together?? and then they got excited about the dumb presents they bought each other??

[deivijy]

[destielshippingnews]

The more I think about the ending of The Boys 3x08, the stupider it gets. It's not as dumb as Supernatural 15x19-20, but it's certainly all kinds of idiotic. They were finally about to kill Homelander, a psychotic mass murdering fuckhead who's overstayed his welcome as the Big Bad. Butcher was FINALLY going to have his revenge AND make his son safe. Maeve was going to kill the man she hates. Soldier Boy was going to gank the person who was THEE reason Payback betrayed him. The existential threat to the safety of millions of people was finally about to be neutralised ...but OMG, Soldier Boy knocked out a kid who proved himself to be a threat and an obstacle in taking down Homelander, we have to kill him! Never mind that Homelander would do much more than knock out a kid, the plans have changed! Death to Soldier Boy, who... was doing exactly what he was supposed to be doing. And how exactly is he a 'racist piece of shit', MM? Stormfront was racist, Blue Hawk was racist, but I don't remember ever seeing Soldier Boy doing a racism, just a lot of gay jokes. The whole thing was shite. I've said of the film Devour from 2005 that I was stoked for Jensen that he finally got to escpae his typecasting as The Boyfriend TM, but I was sad that THAT film was the thing to break his typecasting. Of The Boys I'll say something similar: I'm thrilled for Jensen that he finally got to escape small-budget shows, being shunted from series to series, and getting a big break, but I'm sad that THIS is what did it. He was great, and his character had lots of potential to be a riveting addition to the show for the next few series, but all that build-up and potential got squandered.

[aceofwhump]

Dude please remind me of the name of the show and character with the hot Scottish dude that sings and then almost died after being wrongfully hanged and had PTSD from it? I'm all out of whump so rewatching old stuff and remember that being some good shit TM😭. Also what ep is it where Mike goes through withdrawal? Thank you and love you 😍

Outlander!! You are looking for Roger Mackenzie Wakefield from Outlander! Specifically 5x08 ;)

And Mike's withdrawal episode is 3x08. God that episode is just the best

[outrunningthedark]

I was checking the live+3 ratings for 911 and The Masked Singer & thinking about your spec over which show/timeslot the skip was suppose to be helping, & I noticed that while the live numbers are pretty close with 911 ahead slightly, after the 3 day delay 911 really pulls ahead. But Singer stays about 0.1 ahead in demo even with the 1.5mil extra viewers 911 gets. So I have nothing to add to what you've already theorised but I am strangely eager to see how Singer does in the timeslot.

Both times there's been a pause between episodes in the fall (2x08 // 2x09 + 3x08 // 3x09) the station chose to air a rerun. Deviating from that pattern to give the TV audience content of TMS where "new hints and clues are dropped for those who have yet to be revealed." makes it pretty clear, IMO, what the goal is with this.

The show *did* gain 10% of it's 18-49 demo back on Wednesday night, so this decision may have come at just the right time. You can bet I'll be checking for those numbers on Tuesday. ;)

[wardrobemoments]

O_O

[robntunney]

the mentalist: 3x08 ball of fire ➔ Your friend Jane is very clever. But I don't think he realizes the rageful feeling his trickery can provoke. I've felt that rage. I've thought of various unpleasant things I would do to him. And right now someone is acting on thoughts like those. Aren't you worried what's being done to him? There are things so much worse than killing a man.

[debbiewilder]

@butchdyke69 yo idk how to reply to shit so here we are.

ok, I will say I think it speaks to how poorly they’ve treated their protagonist that she does not only something she could’ve done in 1x01, but it’s also something she does do. Debbie says Ruth should live another way (get a family) in 1x01, Ruth says no. Debbie says Ruth should live another way in 3x10 (become a director), Ruth says no. That locker room and airport scene have so many parallels--Debbie says in both “Don’t you want to be happy?” (and live the life I’m leading), Ruth says no, both scenes contain hugs, etc

Like, I get the point is highlighting Ruth’s rut but it’s actually awful writing that they never let her grow and made their protagonist (who should be driving the story) so passive for three seasons. There are ways to treat people pleasers while allowing them to be active and grow. But, instead they took every opportunity and made it about letting other people grow instead and kept her static, submissive, and passive. This isn’t Paddington (a character who doesn't get a character arc because everyone else grows because of their interactions with Paddington since he is unflawed and teaches them how to lead better lives). Ruth is fucked up. As fucked up as Debbie. She deserved three seasons of growth.

(This got long so added read more.) 

I will say her finally facing her reflection in 3x08, being so lost that she speaks to a psychic, avoiding/destroying real acting opportunities throughout season 3, destroying relationships left and right throughout season 3, etc does suggest they might finally give her an arc. In the past, she couldn’t grow because she told herself she wasn’t shiny like Debbie. But, now everyone around her is growing (Sheila, Justine, Melrose, etc) and that lie she’s always told herself is harder to believe. Overall, I think her choosing to go back to that life of constant auditions could finally lead her to grow. And, it could be a really great thing ultimately. It could finally lead her to fall apart and realize she needs to change on her own terms. 

Do I completely trust them with Ruth? Nope. They’ve given me so many reasons not to. They made her sexual harassment about bolstering Sam and downing Debbie (the way the show juxtaposes those reactions is super gross and sends the average viewer to ignore Debbie’s internalized misogyny and just view Debbie as bad TM and Sam as good TM and just like that aw his misogyny is erased). Ruth also gets no pov on her own sexual harassment. What kind of show does that about this subject, let alone a show that’s run by women?! They had Ruth “I choose work” Wilder choose shitty men who manipulate her and ones that she clearly doesn’t want. They consistently treat Debbie like the protagonist. The arc of season 1 is so clearly because of Debbie’s choices rather than Ruth’s. Debbie is the one who drives the story (at least most of the time). Debbie gets one of the best arcs on television. And...Ruth is also there. So, I don’t trust they respect or value Ruth the way I do but I’m definitely way more hopeful after season 3 than I was after season 2.

To be clear though, I would’ve hated if Ruth chose to go with Debbie’s offer. That would’ve been a huge regression. Not only would she be submitting further to Debbie’s control and what Debbie wants for her but she’d also be giving up on her dreams just because Debbie says to rather than uncovering what she wants and growing on her own terms. And, Debbie doesn’t offer that just out of love. To be clear, she could’ve offered Ruth acting. She could’ve told Ruth she could direct and also act. She didn't need to be so cruel about Ruth’s dreams. In fact, she knows what Ruth will say to that offer. She says at the top of 3x10 to Tex that she could never tell Ruth to give up acting (roughly) and then she does that at the end of the episode. She does it for some kind reasons but also some very shitty ones. It’s not a good offer and Debbie doesn’t phrase it well either. I mean, also...Ruth is like 32, not 50. She can keep going on auditions all she wants. She’s not Debbie. Power doesn’t interest her, not in the same way. She loves performing, she loves fiction, she loves acting. She just needs to repair her relationship to those things. To the point where I think there could even be a satisfying ending with Ruth still auditioning (I don’t think they’ll go that route, I think it’d be a hard sell but just saying). As long as she heals her relationship to acting and other people more and she’s not turning to acting in such an unhealthy way. Oh also another thing I’d like for season 4--a new proposal from Debbie but less shitty. Debbie, feelings are scary I know but you can do better :(

So yeah anyway I think this choice she makes at the airport has the potential to make her realize that she’s not that person anymore, that she got used to having a voice and control on GLOW, and realizes she feels powerless when auditioning. And at first she’ll cling harder to auditioning but she’ll ultimately fall apart and this will force her to grow and discover a new relationship to fiction/other people/herself/acting. If they care about her. I will say there’s a sliver of hope given that season 3 did at least give us a bit of her growing awareness that the way she’s living is unhealthy. So yeah tbh I’m not mad about how that scene went down. I’ll just be mad if there’s no payoff and am mad that she didn’t get to drive her own story or grow for three seasons.

[drsilverfish]

Dean’s Jungian Shadow Arc in S14 - Confronting the Internal Father (2x22 to 14x20)

“This meeting with oneself is, at first, the meeting with one’s own shadow. The shadow is a tight passage, a narrow door, whose painful constriction no one is spared who goes down to the deep well. But one must learn to know oneself in order to know who one is” 

(Jung, The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious 1991: p21) 

Jung believed that the psyche was composed, in part, of a relation to “archetypes” (shared human psychic formations). One of these is the archetype of the father.

He distinguishes between the actual father (i.e. your Dad) and the “imago” of the father (a term he borrowed from Freud). That means, the psychological internalised construct of the father, which partly resides in the unconscious, and which is not identical to your real Dad, because it’s about your childish and foundational perception of them, but, also, for Jung (not Freud) it is linked to the archetypal (or mythic) father. The father archetype (for Jung, who has a gendered perception of the world rooted in his time-period) is about power and control. And when someone subconsciously over-identifies with the father-archetype, this results in out-of-control power fantasies:

"The danger is just this unconscious identity with the archetype, the more a father identifies with the archetype, the more unconscious and irresponsible, indeed psychotic ... he ... will be"

 (Jung, 1906-1916 writings collected as Freud and Psychoanalysis: 1961:p316).

So, subconsciously over-identifying with the father-imago has negative consequences for a person, and those around them. 

Let’s talk Dean, The Shadow and Dean’s Daddy Issues.

Remember this? (Gods but the colour palette was gorgeous back then).

This is Dean shooting Azazel, the yellow-eyed demon who killed his mother, Mary Winchester, with the Colt in 2x22 All Hell Breaks Loose Part II.

He does it with his father, John Winchester’s spirit’s help (released from Hell):

But, when I say help, remember that, symbolically, John has also been mirrored to Azazel, by means of Azazel’s possession of John (1x22 Devil’s Trap):

Hooboy -  Daddy issues right out of the gate. That’s not news to any of us. The whole show is about “wayward sons”, after all.  

Fast foward twelve years, and this is Dean (in the role of The FatherTM) almost shooting Jack, his own adopted Nephilim son (who also represents his child-self) with the Hammurabi, the mystical gun Mark II, which Chuck forged and named after an ancient Babylonian law which codifies “an eye for an eye” (i.e. a “Revenge Gun”TM):

Jack the Nephilim, whose eyes glow yellow when he is in his power, and who has (apparently) killed Mary Winchester (again):

(Jack in 13x14 Good Intentions)

Notice that both scenarios - Dean, mystical gun, yellow-eyed supernatural being who killed his mother - take place in a graveyard. 

Mary is dead twice (at least as far as Dean is concerned) and her death haunts the scenes.

Chuck has deliberately set up the second scenario to mirror the first (he is, in my view, testing Dean, the way he tested Abraham).

At this moment, in Moriah, we could say Dean is possessed by his Shadow, in the form of the father archetype, the Ghost of John Winchester, in his subconsious. He is ready to act out John Winchester’s revenge quest redux, and in doing so, to do violence all over again to his child-self, in the form of Jack, who symbolises child-Dean in this moment. 

A repetition of the damage done to Dean himself as a child; who was forced, by the tragedy of Mary’s death, and his own father’s traumatic revenge-quest, to grow up too fast, is playing out before our eyes.

Jack-the-mirror, who lost his own mother at birth, and looks twenty-something but is only two, kneels, a willing sacrifice, in the role of child-Dean, before his father, adult-Dean, who is shadow-possessed by John’s Ghost, ready to be murdered, just as John “murdered” Dean’s childhood. 

“The psychological rule says that when an inner situation is not made conscious, it happens outside as fate. That is to say, when the individual remains undivided and does not become conscious of his inner opposite, the world must perforce act out the conflict and be torn into opposing halves.” 

(Carl Jung, Collected Works “Christ: A Symbol of the Self”).

Jung suggests we are subject to “fate” (i.e. our own unconscious forces taking control of our actions) when we do not confront our Shadow. 

Ties in beautifully to Supernatural’s larger theme of fate vs free will, right?

Now, back then, when Dean shot yellow-eyed demon No 1, Azazel, Dean was (as his subconscious taunted him at the time) “Daddy’s blunt little instrument” (3x10 Dream a Little Dream of Me)....

Back then, Dean obeyed his father and called him “Sir”,  “...following Dad’s orders like a good little soldier” (Sam in 1x10 Asylum). Sammy was the rebellious one.

When Dean stood up to his Dad, it wasn’t for himself, it was to protect Sam:

(1x20 Dead Man’s Blood). 

Dean’s obedience was linked to his angel-engineered role as the Michael vessel (God’s obedient son) whilst Sam’s rebelliousness was linked to his equally engineered role as the Lucifer vessel (God’s rebellious son).

They ripped up that script and wrote their own ending in 5x22 Swan Song, but, while Sam said “Yes” to Lucifer (his Shadow-self) and beat the Devil, Dean said “No” to Michael.

S14 is the season in which Dean, having said “Yes” to AU!Michael in order to beat Lucfier (again) in 13x23 Let the Good Times Roll, undertakes his own Shadow-work. 

Dabb’s Ouroboros narrative is in full swing.  

Back then, John’s revenge quest, to get the yellow-eyed demon who killed Mary Winchester, became Dean’s mission too. He internalised it (even before he knew about Azazel). Sam wanted to get out of hunting, Dean was driven to follow in his father’s footsteps (whatever his real feelings and desires were, he buried them to follow the “family business”). 

Here is Young!Dean in Bad Boys (9x07) looking out of the window at Young!Sam in the Impala, about to give up his happiness at Sonny’s and his young love with Robin in order to put his Dad’s way of life (hunting/ revenge), and his brother (who needs him) first:

One way a child deals with a parent who is hurting them is to want to become them, to idolise them and to believe that they’re right (Dad’s car, Dad’s music, Dad’s machismo, Dad’s heterosexuality, Dad’s way of drinking and squashing down emotion). 

DEAN: “We have the coolest Dad in the world.  He’s a superhero.” (3x08 A Very Supernatural Christmas). 

Jung would say Dean internalised a strong identification (partly conscious, partly unconscious) with the father imago. 

Dean’s been on a long, long journey to get out from under his father’s shadow. We’ve seen that struggle over many seasons.

AU!Michael in Dean’s head in S14 represented the repressive ghost of John Winchester embodied as a destructive archangel in Dean’s mind, i.e. serious crunch time for Dean’s psyche - things coming to a real crisis point for him, psychologically. 

Dark!Kaia makes the parallel in 14x03 The Scar (just hear “John Winchester” for “him”):

KAIA: “You’re no different from him. Threats, violence anything to get what you want.” DEAN: “I am nothing like him.” KAIA: “Yeah you are: you always have been!”

You can read some of my previous meta on Dean’s struggle with AU!Michael as his repression/ the Ghost of John Winchester here (which also emphasises that one aspect of John’s repression of Dean is, in subtext, the repression of Dean’s queerness):

Queer Gods and Monsters (14x02)

https://drsilverfish.tumblr.com/post/179226151009/queer-gods-and-monsters-14x02

14x03 The Scar - Dean Confronts Dark!Kaia (Dopplegangers, Mirrors and John Winchester’s Ghost)

http://drsilverfish.tumblr.com/post/179463975289/shirtlesssammy-14x03the-scar-meta-writers

AU!Michael and the Closet (14x10 Nihilism)

https://drsilverfish.tumblr.com/post/182120562849/aumichael-and-the-closet

Jung and Dean’s Journey Towards Self-Integration in 14x11 Damaged Goods

http://drsilverfish.tumblr.com/post/182299438269/jung-and-deans-journey-towards-self-integration

In 14x02 we get this shot of Dean facing his mirror-self, AU!Michael, and Michael tells him, “I own you!”

In 14x10, Dean, desperate to contain AU!Michael, manages (with Sam and Cas’ help) to lock him in a fridge-locker in his own mind:

 And he says, “I am the cage!”

Dean then builds a Ma’lak box and intends to lock himself in it and throw himself (and AU!Michael with him) to the bottom of the ocean. Yikes. At the start of 14x12 Prophet and Loss, he dreams that he is alone, and terrified, in that very box:

Sam says to him about this plan (14x12 Prophet and Loss):  “But what you’re talking about is far worse than death. Michael’s an archangel. He could literally keep you buried in a coffin, alive, forever.”

Remember Dean also described his possession by AU!Michael as like “drowning” over and over (14x03 The Scar): 

DEAN: “I don’t remember most of what Michael did with me because I was under water. Drowning. And that I remember. I felt every second of it - clawing, fighting for air. I thought I could make it out but I couldn’t: I wasn’t strong enough.”

Now hear what is happening, psychologically... 

Dean’s subconscious, his Shadow-self (aka AU!Michael representing the Ghost of John Winchester) i.e. Dean’s own self-repression and over-control, both inherited from John’s impact on him, is saying to Dean “I own you” and “I am the cage”, you will be buried in a coffin, alive, with me forever. You are under water and you can’t make it out.    

That’s pretty scary right? Dean is trapped by himself (by the traumatic internalised impact of his past and his consequent over-identification with his father).

If this were IRL, we’d have given Dean the name of a good therapist, a long time ago. But it’s Supernatural, so instead Dean gets to confront the ghost of his father, John Winchester, in the flesh, in 14x13 Lebanon. He wishes on the magic pearl to get “Michael out of my friggin’ head” and lo and behold John Winchester magically appears before him (cemeting the symbolism of AU!Michael in Dean’s head representing/ mirroring John Winchester). 

Dean gets to hear his Dad say, “You are a grown man and I am incredibly proud of you.” Dean gets to say to Sam, that he wouldn’t change anything: “I’m good with who I am. I’m good with who you are. ‘Cause our lives – they’re ours.”

He gets to tell his father he “has a family”, not a conventional one - “an angel and Lucifer’s kid”, but it’s good: 

 An Angel, and Lucifer’s Kid? Queer-Coding and Dean’s “Found Family” in 14x13 Lebanon

http://drsilverfish.tumblr.com/post/182794294534/an-angel-and-lucifers-kid-queer-coding-and

And he gets to choose to let his Dad go, with love. What beautiful psychological progress, huh? AU!Michael is out of his head and so is the controlling Ghost of his Father, replaced by a loving one!

But, it’s not that simple. When the pearl is destroyed, time is reset and AU!Michael is still installed in Dean’s noggin. It’s only when Dean and Cas have been whammied by the Queer Gorgon, that AU!Michael (Dean’s repression, remember) finally gets out of his mind (14x14 Ouroboros): 

The Kiss of the Queer Gorgon in 14x14 Ouroboros

http://drsilverfish.tumblr.com/post/183323000224/the-kiss-of-the-queer-gorgon-in-14x14-ouroboros

Jack (Dean’s child-self mirror) kills AU!Michael (John’s repressive ghost mirror) but, the burden is great and the cost is (at least part of) his soul. 

Moreover, when Mary is subsequently “killed” by Jack (you all know by now I have a theory she’s been fake re-fridged, and she’s actually been blasted into an AU, and we’ll see her again), Dean regresses. He goes back into uber-controlling mode, over-responsible mode, as a way of dealing with the fact his world has fallen apart again. Psychically (as many of you clever people have already pointed out) he’s been taken back to the trauma his 4 year old self experienced when Mary died the first time. 

So, Dean puts on his control-mask, the one he learned from his Dad, and (just like John did) he focusses on dealing with the yellow-eyed “monster” who killed Mary, to contain the pain. He refuses to listen to Sam or Cas. He tells them to get on board with his (suicidal again) plan or get lost. HE is the one who instigates locking Jack (remember, also a representation of his child-self) in the Ma’lak box:

And he is the one who won’t listen to his loved ones,  but jumps all over and obeys without question, the Word of God (the Law of the Father) that the only way is to shoot Jack with the new mystical gun (Colt Mark II) when Chuck shows up with it. 

 Displaced-in-time John said, in 14x13 Lebanon (having been filled in by his sons):

JOHN: “I-I went out takin’ out Yellow Eyes. I mean, that was the point, right? I mean, get the thing that killed mom.”      

Chuck offers Dean the same choice (and, again, I think it’s a test).

Remember, as well as being the Revenge GunTM, the Hammurabi is also know as “The Equaliser”, so whatever happens to the person who is shot, also happens to the shooter. A perfect, perfect metaphor for the way in which John’s revenge quest rebounded on his sons (compounding the emotional trauma of losing their Mom). 

If Dean’ follows in his father’s footsteps and shoots the yellow-eyed “demon” who killed Mary, his own adopted son Jack (who, did I mention, represents his child-self) he will die - literally, according to the “law” of Chuck’s mystical gun, but also symbolically.

Because symbolically, that choice represents the fact that Dean has been crushing the life out of himself, for a long time, thanks to the internalised Ghost of John Winchester in his head (demanding that he be a substitute-parent to Sammy, that he stay “on mission”, that he perform a certain kind of masculinity, that he is responsible for everything and everyone, that he constantly fails [because he is trying to live up to an impossible standard]).

And at the last, Dean passes the test. He says, “No,” to the ultimate Father FigureTM (God) who is shouting at him to pick up the gun and pull the trigger.

He says “No” even when Chuck promises to bring Mary back from the “dead”. 

He does not repeat the cycle of his father’s revenge quest. He lowers the weapon of RevengeTM and of Re-bounding Suffering/ DeathTM.

He (finally) has compassion for Jack and thus (hopefully, hopefully) for his own child-self mirror. 

On symbolic Mount Moriah, Dean confronts his Shadow-self, the part of him that is “just like” his father, the part that keeps controlling or pushing away his key relationships (with Sam and Cas and now Jack) the part that finds safety in orders, and in a black-and-white view of the world where monsters are monsters, and in which revenge is the answer.

Confronting the Shadow, as I wrote before 14x20 aired, can release us from “scapegoating”:

The Scapegoat: Speculative Musings on S14′s End (Moriah) (Linked to the Season’s Jungian Themes - Scapegoating and the Unacknowledged Shadow)  

https://drsilverfish.tumblr.com/post/184068368304/the-scapegoat-speculative-musings-on-s14s-end

So, Dean says, “No” to God, the ultimate father-figure, and in doing so he is released from his Shadow-possession by the father-imago in his unconscious

DEAN: “No, my Mom was my hero, and I miss her, and I will miss her every second of my life, but she would not want this.” 

As a counter-point, he embraces the feminine (his internal anima, according to Jung). He evolves.

And so, the mirror is broken through between the self and the Shadow-self, the ego and the id. AU!Michael/  the Ghost of John Winchester/ the Voice of God are out of Dean Winchester’s head. They can no longer control him: he has faced them all. 

Now,  Dean has to learn to be himself, a whole new final chapter in the journey.

“The shadow, when it is realized, is the source of renewal ...  no progress or growth is possible until the shadow is adequately confronted and confronting means more than merely knowing about it. It is not until we have truly been shocked into seeing ourselves as we really are, instead of as we wish or hopefully assume we are, that we can take the first step toward individual reality” (Connie Zweig, Meeting the Shadow, 1990).

And, if you’ve been following the thread in the links to my other meta on Dean’s Shadow here, on how John’s repression in Dean’s mind was depicted (in subtext in S14) as, in part, Dean’s repression of his queerness (the Ma’lak box and the fridge-locker in Rocky’s mind-bar being symbols of the closet) then this culminating confrontation with the repressive image of The FatherTM in the form of God himself, as symbolic of Dean’s own controlling, self-repressing, self-closeting, Shadow-self, does seem to clear the way for... interesting developments (dramatic irony claxon - Dean still doesn’t know God is, in fact, himself bisexual). 

However, as always, I caution that the overtly homoerotic denoument is more than likely to remain closeted at the last, in favour of the “familial”. 

[kythwena]

Mom, I'm not in a hurry. The Magicians | S03E08: Six Short Stories About Magic (2018)