A tale of two wrecked Impalas . . . .
2x01 vs 7x01
The following came from a discussion originally had during Season 2 Episode 1 of “A Sam Girl Retrospective Podcast”, A Sam Winchester-centric Supernatural Rewatch Podcast
So, I want to talk about two superficially similar scenes that are actually very different in terms of what they say about Sam and Dean’s relative agency and autonomy. They are: the scene between Sam and Bobby in Bobby’s scrapyard in 2x01 (In My Time of Dying) and the scene between Dean and Bobby (also in Bobby’s scrapyard) in 7x01 (Meet the New Boss).
Let’s start with how they are, on the surface, similar. Both scenes occur during season openers in which the Impala had been critically damaged (in the season finale of the preceding season) to the point of being almost beyond repair. In parallel with the Impala, in both cases, one of the brothers has suffered some kind of life-threatening situation. Both scenes feature a conversation between one of the boys and Bobby about the state of the car. And, crucially, in both cases, the state of the car is an explicit metaphor for the state of the other brother.
The scene in 2x01 is particularly interesting to me because it is one of the only times in which the Impala acts as a mirror/stand-in for Dean. This is significant because, throughout the series, the Impala far more often serves as a mirror to Sam and to his place within the Winchester family dynamic (including in 7x01).
One of clearest examples of this can be seen in 11x04 (Baby), in which Lucifer (posing as John) says to Sam: “Looks like Dean's taken good care of this old beast. Seems like he's taken good care of you, too.” This line also calls back to John’s line in 1x20 (Dead Man’s Blood): “I wouldn’t have given you the damn thing if I thought you were going to ruin it.” Drawing an explicit line of comparison between Dean’s “caretaking” of the car and Sam, it is important to note here that there is also an implication of transference of ownership and responsibility from John to Dean, mirrored between the Impala and Sam (the transference of responsibility “for” Sam is exemplified at the end of 2x01 with John passing the instructions to “save Sam or kill him”). Both are, to some extent, objectified in similar ways.
Dean’s position of power within his and Sam’s relationship is reflected here. Dean is the one to whom responsibility for (and ownership of) the Impala and Sam are entrusted by John, a transference of patriarchal power. Even in the episode Baby, which ostensibly focuses on Sam and Dean’s joint relationship to the car, we have repeated references to Dean as the owner, not only the aforementioned scene with Lucifer!John, but also in Sam’s line “Out in the back seat of my brother’s ’67 Chevy” when he and Dean sing along to Night Moves.
This objectification is amplified in these lines in particular due to the notable lack of female pronouns used in reference to the Impala (usually otherwise almost invariably referred to as “she”): “the damn thing”, “ruin it”, “the old beast”, all of these in the context of the wider comparison being drawn serve to strip Sam of his personhood, dehumanising him.
Whilst the scene in 7x07 does use female pronouns (and that they are female pronouns is important) for the Impala, it still tacitly treats Sam as an extension of the Impala (and extension of Dean) - “we’ll glue him back together too” - perhaps the most direct parallel drawn between Sam and the car, the “too” reflecting that Dean views the “repair” of both to be things he can approach in the exact same manner. The Impala and Sam are objects, with the illusion of personhood. The scene demonstrates Dean’s sense of entitlement over Sam’s agency, his body, and his autonomy. “No matter what shape he’s in…” It doesn’t matter what is done to Sam as long as “Sammy” (Dean’s ideal of Sam) is preserved in some form. Harkening back to Soulless Sam’s 6x11 (Appointment in Samarra) line, “Dean doesn't care about me. He -- he just cares about his little brother, Sammy, burning in hell. He'll kill me to get that other guy back.” That is not to say that Dean doesn’t deeply love Sam, but that his approach to “caring” for him is reflective of the power imbalance stemming from Dean’s position as the current Winchester patriarch.
By contrast, the scene in 2x01 begins with “[Dean] is gonna wanna fix this” - immediately, this embodies the agency with Dean; if the Impala in this scene is acting as a mirror to Dean, then it is saying that the ultimate agency over his own body and how it is “fixed” here belongs to Dean.
“If there’s only one working part, that’s enough” whilst, again, similar sounding to “No matter what shape he’s in”, I think does have fundamental underlying differences in intension and tone.
Sam’s line, especially in combination with the first line, suggests that he will look for a working piece, and if he can find it, they can help to rebuild the Impala (Dean) around it, and ultimately, Dean will be the one to conduct the final “repair”. Despite the comparison to the object of the Imapala, I find Sam’s approach here to be humanising. “Working” is, I think, especially relevant here when drawing a comparison to 7x01.
Dean’s line disregards whether the parts of Sam they “glue back together” are “working” or not, and explicitly excludes Sam as an active participant in the processes of “repair”. Dean will shove parts of Sam back together, whether Sam likes it or not. The 2x01 scene also reflects the relative balance of power in their relationship. Sam has neither the intention nor the power to claim ownership of the Impala and, by proxy, Dean, the way Dean does over the Impala and Sam in 7x01.
Ultimately, whilst these scenes may appear similar, they are profoundly affected by the relative positions of power Sam and Dean inhabit within the bounds of their relationship, the wider Winchester family dynamic, and the effect this has on their relative agencies.
