okay continuing my critique on 1x09 Home and how it just fell flat for me narratively, despite having a really good concept in theory, I have to talk about Missouri and her interactions with Dean. To be clear, this is NOT a knock on Missouri as a character, but about the writing choices made throughout the episode with how she speaks to Dean in juxtaposition to how she interacts with Sam.
First off, this is a Kripke episode so, all my criticism is directed at that man !!! So, throughout the whole episode they made the choice to have Missouri be harsher to Dean than Sam. There's a lot of this "teasing scolding" thing she does with him, which I probably wouldn't complain about this in any other circumstance because it's clearly supposed to function as comedic relief, but in this episode specifically it feels tonally off and misplaced. Like, they're coming back to their old house where something very traumatic happened. The episode should feel heavy for them (which, the fact that it doesn't is something I've talked abt already and my main critique). Dean is the one with actual memories of that night and that house and Missouri would know that and would know that it would be harder for him to face that house than Sam, so I really do not get Kripke's choice to write her treating Dean harsher than Sam in this ep.
Like almost every interaction w/ Dean is some kind of teasing or dismissing comment. And again, a lot of them are harmless and wouldn't even bother me IF it weren't this episode where it's clear this is supposed to be hard and traumatic for them (but Dean specifically!!) Like just starting off with the "you were a goofy looking kid" and "if you put your foot on my coffee table i'll whack you with a spoon" like…tonally these comments just feel out of place. The goofy looking kid one just doesn't make sense to me since John went to Missouri just days after the fire, and 4 yr old baby dean was not ? goofy looking ? That's the sort of comment you make when you're talking about the awkward pre-teen stage or something, imo. The foot on the coffee table comment just seems unnecessary to me and once again trying to go for that comedic relief angle but it just falls flat for me in the context of this ep.
And then this trend continues with saying Dean's not the sharpest tool in the shed (reinforcing this perception the narrative has of painting Dean as the "dumber one") Dismissing him using an EMF reader and saying it's "amateur", despite the fact that the EMF works perfectly fine and does, in fact, alert to the presence of spirits. Every time Dean asks questions or voices an objection Missouri dismisses him or explains things to Dean in a patronizing way and it's notable because she doesn't act this way with Sam at all. Then later, when the house is a mess from the poltergeist, Missouri tells Jenny the mom, not to worry about the mess because Dean will clean this all up, and snaps at him specifically to get to work.
And again, it just feels really weird and misplaced. And I'm fully directing my criticism at Kripke and asking WHY. What was the reason? It also feels like a lot of these interactions were playing into stereotypes of the "sassy" black woman which is just very :/ Like idk I'm just not sure what Krikpe's reasoning was for writing these interactions and for the clear juxtaposition in how Missouri interacts sympathetically toward Sam but dismissive toward Dean. Especially in an episode where I feel like it would have made the most sense to make Dean the POV character / central focus since he IS the one with memories and trauma of that house and that night.
I think the choice to make this the episode where they introduce Sam's psychic powers really took away from a lot of what the episode should have been about: going back home after the message of "you can never go home" and Dean swearing to himself he never would, and confronting that trauma and literally seeing their mother's ghost !! That should've been the focus IMO. Like they should've introduced Sam's visions in a different episode. Then had those visions take them to Lawrence, let the focus be on Dean, with Sam seeking help / guidance from Missouri on his visions as the side-plot. AND THEN, have Missouri continue to show up as a recurring character helping Sam with his psychic visions and also filling a Bobby-like role as someone they go to for cases / lore / information. Missouri says, "Don't you boys be strangers" at the end of the episode and then they don't see her again for over a decade !!!! Kripke, I am once again asking, WHY.
All of this.
