#dean positive

[mvdeanw]

My endless Dean series: Season 1. Episode 1. Pilot.

Part 3

Part 1, 2.

[driverpicksthepodcast]

Hello & welcome!

Driver Picks The Podcast is an episode by episode break down of everything we love, hate, and hate to love about the CW’s Supernatural. 

Join me (Beth, long term sufferer of Winchester Derangement Syndrome) as I drag my friend (Jamie, long term sufferer of Beth’s incessant ramblings) through the show from the very beginning - currently airing season seven!

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[rosegirl1994]

Why Dean is still the most awesome character that has ever existed on TV (and a realistic one)

Jeez, after having come to tumblr after a great episode with the intention to enjoy our favorite show with other passionate viewers I have to say I am really disappointed with the hate for the episode, the hate for the kid actors (which were really really awesome, especially Paxton Singleton), but most of all for my favorite character Dean Winchester.

Since the very first moment I have been a Dean girl through and through, so be warned, maybe my view is clouded (which makes it even more important for me to hear about other peoples (well-articulated) opinions). The characters have changed and developed soo much over the years and, even if it was not always for the better, especially the worse character traits they have developed are realistic given the trauma they have experienced over the seasons (because let’s be real – even if their upbringing was complicated as Chuck put it their real nightmares started from season 2 on and their lives haven’t gotten any better since then with multiple deaths from family members, friends and themselves to endure). Lately though, all I take from the comments over here is hate for Dean.

From 15x16 I took that many (hopefully not all) fans are unhappy with Dean’s attitude towards Jack’s planned sacrifice. I have read that people are pissed that Dean is supposedly okay with Jack dying which in my opinion is not established in canon, quite the contrary to be honest. Last finale Dean headed out to kill Jack but didn’t/couldn’t do so even though Jack had killed his mom (and Dean had been raised by his dad to revenge Mary’s (first) death since he was a very small child and hunted that damn demon for more than two decades), yet he couldn’t do it when he was faced with Jack. The, in 15x14 Dean was really really happy to have Mrs Butters carrying for him and Sam, yet the very second (okay, he did let a millisecond pass mourning his sandwich 😉) she wanted to murder Jack, Dean defended him and could have gotten killed himself for it even. Dean did not want Jack to get killed then. He told Jack that he does not want him to die even if he is still a bit angry (which is completely understandable imo), he is trying his best to forgive Jack (I read that as if he wants to forgive but is just not able to at the moment, yet again, completely understandable for me as anger/grief is not an emotion I can turn off completely just because I want to).

Another issue I have with the whole hate being projected onto Dean by (some?) fans is that Jack said he wants to sacrifice himself, it is Jack’s (or respectively Billie’s idea), it was not Dean who said that Jack had to do so in order to be forgiven. Yes, Jack is a toddler but it is still his decision to make and would Dean tell him (in any other situation) to do or to not do something people would go crazy over that again and claim that Dean is maniplulative/abusive/controlling, …. (read that in other contexts already). It is very hypocritical, imo. Yes, it would be great if Dean would mourn more, yet to him, as he said in 15x02 nothing seems real at the moment. He wants to be free (and sees his only chance in Chuck being taken down) and not, even more important than that, Chuck wants to annihilate all existence. He needs to be stopped and he needs to be stopped soon! There are 7.8 billion people on this planet, Billie told Dean last episode that Chuck will be on earth very very soon so there is not a lot of time to come up with another plan, so what is it people expect him to do? Sacrifice 7.8 billion so that Jack can live (which he cannot to either if Chuck decides to nuke the planet?). Remember 2x20 where Dean is visiting Au!John’s grave: “Your happiness, for all those peoples' lives? No contest.”, that is what he has been taught from early on by his dad. Even if Dean wants Jack to live because he considers him family and loves him (which he does and has been shown in many occasions – even lately with him baking Jack a cake), one life is nothing in comparison to 7.8 billion lives.

In season 5 Dean was willing to let Sammy die in order to have the world saved (let’s be real about that – the very Sam that is the very most important person in the universe for Dean that Dean would have spent forever for in hell and who is loved infinitely by Dean). Moreover, – and I wonder how that hasn’t come up yet in any other post – in season 11 everyone else (being Sam, Cas, …) was okay with Dean being the bomb that would destroy Amara and Chuck which is the very same thing Jack is supposed to do now! No one went crazy saying that Sam or Cas hated Dean, did not love him, … At the same time in season 9 when Dean didn’t want to let Sam go (or couldn’t let him go) people got mad at Dean for not having been able to let Sam die, calling him selfish, etc.. It seems as if Dean can’t win no matter what he does.

Right now (and time isn’t on their side) this (being Jack’s sacrifice) is their best shot at defeating Chuck and saving the world. I think if it was Sam or Castiel the only thing different would be Dean mourning that decision more but he would go along with the plan eventually, too (as proven several times in the past). Yes, it would be great to see more of Dean’s doubts about the plan (which he has! Otherwise he wouldn’t have told Sam he kept the news from him because of the possibility of ethical questions being raised by Sam (remember 14x11: “Sam, you’re the last person I could tell, the last person I could be around, ‘cause you’re the only one that could’ve talked me out of it” – Sam is Dean’s consciousness!). Dean has doubts about it but right now there is not a lot to do about it. Cas is on it already but at the same time time is running out and the world is ending so Dean really shouldn’t be sitting in a corner crying about things he cannot change and which are not his decisions to make.

I am really interested in hearing (other) opinions but to me it feels really unfair and hypocritical that Dean is yet again the person to blame. Dean gave Sam the information like a day or two after he has received them (which should have been Cas or Jack’s job, not Deans by the way and hey Cas, Jack even asked you not to spill the news so where is the hate for Cas for being too chatty with Dean 😉), Dean implied heavily that he is not okay with it (even the given circumstances of Jack being the reason is mom is dead yet again) and right now – real talk – Jack’s sacrifice is the only option available to save the planet (a decision Dean had made in season 11 himself, too and Dean supported as Sam’s decision in season 5). 

[samsdean]

yes i am very dean critical sometimes, but i don’t think you understand. i would sacrafice everything for the person who held up his brother while he was dying and offered encouragement and love. i would do just about anything for him.

[idontneedasymbol]

For the record, because some things I can't let go even though I should know better, and I keep seeing this come up:

Dean did not take away Sam's autonomy in 13x17, when he went through the rift with Ketch and Sam stayed behind.

I do get where this idea is coming from. In the past, Dean has violated Sam's autonomy, most memorably in season 9. And Dean's protective instincts can go into overdrive into dysfunctionality and controlling behavior, such as hiding the truth; and part of Dean's reason for leaving Sam behind was definitely protectiveness.

But making a decision that involves yourself as well as another person, explaining the reason for your decision, and having the other person agree with your decision is not taking away their autonomy. Even if you have personal reasons for your decision, even if it's a decision the other person isn't happy about and agrees to with reluctance -- not doing whatever someone wants, or convincing someone of something they initially disagree with, is not necessarily violating that person's autonomy. It can be, depending on the circumstances; but it often isn't, because you have your own autonomy and are allowed to make your own decisions about what you do.

In 13x18, Dean is not threatening Sam or tricking Sam. If he'd locked Sam in the dungeon and gone through the rift, that would've been taking away Sam's autonomy. If Dean had waited for Sam to run an errand or something and then snuck through the rift without him, that wouldn't have been taking away Sam's autonomy (Sam would still be free to do whatever he wanted), but it would have been disrespecting their partnership.

Instead, Dean clearly and honestly tells Sam what he wants to do, and why he thinks it’s the right idea. And yes, he states it bluntly. But he's not making any threats (verbal or physical, direct or implied) to enforce it, and he's not speaking from any position of innate authority. Sam is not required or obliged in any way to do what Dean says, and indeed, Sam has never hesitated to argue with Dean when he disagrees with him. Including in this season, e.g. about Gabriel in 13x20, only a couple episodes later.

Sam isn't happy about Dean's decision, but he goes along with it, and it is his free choice to do so, because he is convinced by Dean’s points, not because Dean coerces him.

The other half of the argument seems to be a perception that for Dean to express any opinion about whether Sam goes or stays behind was wrong -- that it was solely Sam's right to decide whether he went through the rift, and for Dean to have any say in the matter is Dean being controlling.

But that's not the case due to the nature of what they were doing. Because this was a team mission, the decision of who went to the Apocaverse was equally Sam and Dean's to make -- and both of them had the right to choose, not only if they were going themselves, but who they wanted to team up with, who they trusted to accompany them on the mission. Dean had the right to decide that he did not want to work with Sam on this one.

Sam likewise had the same choices -- whether to go, whether to work with Dean. But it was Sam's responsibility to stand up for his choices. He could've argued for his right to go. Given the situation, Dean was right that someone needed to stay behind with Gabriel, and Sam obviously agreed with him about that. But Sam could've argued that Cas could have done it. Or he could have argued that Dean stay and Sam go through the rift instead. But he doesn't. And that was his choice, to not speak up. Dean wasn't controlling his thoughts or his voice.

Hell, if Sam really believed Dean couldn't do the mission alone and wanted to do it himself, he could have chosen to do so -- all through 13x18 the rift was right there, still open. And Cas is there to take care of Gabriel. But Sam, again, chooses not to go.

The one protest Sam does make, that it would be safer with both of them, Dean counters by saying that Sam knows that's not true. And Sam doesn't deny this, and he doesn't offer any further argument.

Maybe, it's been suggested, this is because Sam was so depressed and disheartened that he didn't feel he could argue against Dean the way he usually does. He was tired of fighting so he just gave in. But if that's the case, then it's Sam's issue, not Dean's -- and moreover, in that case Dean would be totally right to not want to partner with him on the mission. If Sam can't get up the will for a verbal debate, how is he going to have the strength to survive an apocalyptic world? He would be a liability -- to Dean as much as to Sam himself, and Dean had the right and arguably even the responsibility to refuse to work with him under those circumstances. And that might be why Sam does agree to it. Or maybe he has some other reason. Whatever the case, he does willingly agree to it.

To be clear, I am not saying that Dean making this decision and stating it the way he did is a great way of handling personal relationships. But this ultimately wasn't a "relationship" decision; this was a professional decision, a soldier's decision. The main goal was not to empower Sam or strengthen their bond but to accomplish a mission. Dean straightforwardly stated what he believed was necessary to accomplish that mission, and Sam agreed with Dean's assessment, though it wasn't emotionally what he wanted. It wasn't emotionally what Dean wanted either -- look at his face as he clasps Sam's shoulder goodbye -- but it was what they both believed should be done.

Now, whether both of them were right or were they both complete idiots for not waiting five minutes for Cas to get back, or taking longer to prepare for this mission, is a whole other story. And I'm definitely not saying that the scene couldn't have been better written, or shown better, more effective collaboration and communication; I really wish it had. But ultimately, the point remains that Dean did not make any decision for Sam in this case; Dean made his own decision, and so did Sam.

[mvdeanw]

My endless Dean series : Season 1, Episode 1, Pilot.

Part 2

Part 1

[mvdeanw]

Capturing Dean

Dean in each episode

 Season 1. Episode 1. Pilot.

part 1.

My endless Dean series : Pilot 1x01

All parts for Dean in S1EP1 :  2. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 ,14, 15, 15,  16 , 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30

[mvdeanw]

My endless Dean series : Season 1, Episode 1, Pilot.

Part 4

Part 1, 2, 3..