Every season’s first Destiel touch.
The perfect progression of a love story, as told through touch. Except that last one should very obviously have been a kiss.
Seriously, though. They are perfectly emblematic. S4 is just a functional angel boop that emphasizes both Dean’s importance to a larger plan and the fact that his relationship with Castiel is special (profound bond). S5 is Sam and Dean getting booped as Cas saves both their lives because they are BOTH important to him now…more so than Heaven. S6 is a more intimate touch but also one that wounds (and, YIKES, that is S6 Destiel in a nutshell, no?).
S7 shows real change…look how worried Dean is for Cas. (Actually, if you’ll permit a Cockles interlude, look how worried Jensen is for Misha. That was the scene they were filming when Misha was just incredibly ill but being made to work anyway and Jensen eventually shut down the set for the day. That concern? The way he’s holding him up? That is fucking genuine.)
Do I even need to say anything about that S8 moment??? The S9 moment?? These are when Destiel clearly switched over to being a foundational part of the narrative instead of a kind of side effect (or “bonus” or subtextual add-on). These are blatantly romantic touches.
And so is S10. I mean, Cas has to save Dean from his own worst self? Trope-tastic!! S11 (dir. Jensen Ackles) has some S7/S9 vibes with some fine hurt/comfort. S11 - “hey mom it’s my husband! he’s so glad I’m not dead!”. S12 - “hey! it’s my husband! I’m so glad he’s not dead because I was a nihilistic wreck! lemme just say ‘I do’ real quick.”
Everything about this gifset substantiates the deliberate way that Destiel is built into the narrative foundation from at least S8 on and shows it being reinforced on every level: writing, acting, directing, cinematography. Up until S8 you can argue that those touches aren’t romantic (some aren’t) but from then on there’s just no way around it. These are all shots of lovers reuniting. And that’s a fact.
I remember being in a meet and greet with Misha after that season 8 scene, and I posted this about it:
During the meet n greet, we talked about the hug and Misha said, I don’t know if you noticed, but Cas didn’t even know how to react when Dean hugged him.And we said, Yes! He completely froze up and clenched one fist. And Misha….looked surprised. (that we noticed something so ‘subtle’ LOL)
So, yay for deliberate acting choices to reinforce the Destiel!
