On that last ask on Au Bobby I meant more specifically on his relationship with Jack. Sorry about that.
no apology needed 🫶
i don’t really have a cohesive opinion on their relationship but i have mentioned au bobby in other posts about (1) how jack is constantly dehumanized by other characters, specifically with comparisons to animals — ie asmodeus calling kelly a brood mare, or bobby calling jack a halfbreed, and (2) how, keeping in line with the dehumanization but not quite being the same thing, he’s ultimately not really seen as his own person when push comes to shove.
i don’t hate au bobby, honestly im very indifferent to him and the other au people, and for everything he’s been through his feelings toward jack make plenty of sense — however, I do also think that there were plenty of points where it was made clear that jack was on their side full-stop. like, it’s not enough for jack to declare war on and make it his life’s mission to kill Michael just after a few days within the refugee camp. it’s not enough for him to very publicly disown Lucifer and then get his throat slit right in front of the au people. no, none of that could ever be viable evidence of him legitimately caring about the humans.
after jack burns his soul to exorcise Michael (and hit a sick vape trick with his grace if you ask me) everyone is noticeably more anxious around him — parental figures included — and it doesn’t fall short of jack that they’re anxious, either. he’s actively annoyed by it!!! it doesn’t even seem to matter to anyone outside of the dean-cas-sam circle that jack is Like That because of a sacrifice he did for them, because he loves and cares about them. no, now that he’s no longer a tuberculosis ridden Victorian boxer he goes back to being a potential threat! that’s totally how things work! im getting ahead of myself but when the chips REALLY fall, when jack’s outburst inadvertently kills Mary and nobody is around to see him losing his mind about it, Bobby is the first person to make up his mind that jack’s evil bone has activated and now he has to die.
and Bobby’s logic — “I liked the kid, I fought with him, but so-and-so an unstable monster who doesn’t know right from wrong gets put down” — is just. Eugh. never liked the way he so easily reduces jack to monster status over an incident that nobody fully understands yet, especially considering what he says himself, he fought alongside jack! and to go back to the animal comparison for just a minute, Bobby is literally going about this like jack is a rabid dog they need to euthanize. i rest my case.
as far as jack-centric continuity goes, most of s15 is full of holes and barely makes any connection or callback to any events from 14x18—20 (mind you jack was on tv for swallowing a fake faith healer up in a sinkhole, and iirc chuck didn’t reverse any of his damage past 14x20). like it always bothered me when everybody gathered in that warded silo, Bobby and AU people and jack all in a confined space, nothing came of it. even jack just suddenly being alive and in the bunker again didn’t have an impact, especially on the other hunters who were previously out to kill him? no phone calls to Sam and Dean? no confrontation in the confined silo that nobody can currently leave? where is the closure?
jack even mentions bobby in Gimme Shelter with the signup sheet — ‘Bobby taught me how to box’ — it’s very small and insignificant but it also kind of strikes me, like, jack still values the relationships he had before even after it’s been severed. Idk. This turned into way more of a ramble than I meant it to. Have fun reading it!
