#spn 3.07

[missyoudean]

(3.07) "i know you, dean, thats exactly the face you make when you're scared, i have been watching you, studying you since i was four years old" — dean's smile here is from a proud dad, a dad proud of his son. sam's speech, it's what dean would say but 13.20 dean is too tired to care atm — "i'm not gonna apologize for protecting you" he saw an opening and ran into danger w/o thinking ☹️

[jennsens]

Dean’s toughest vampire encounters | SPN 1.20, 3.07, 6.05, 8.09, 15.20

[spngeorg]

Episode 51: 3.07 Fresh Blood

I’ll begin this week by apologizing for the short length of this one, but I’ve had a migraine for the last three days and it was either record or miss my posting date... luckily I’ve typed up what serves as a nice summary of this one about three years ago, and my general thoughts on it. You can read that here (it’s pretty short for an episode post for me, too).

This episode is a turning point for both Sam and Dean, though. It’s also got a nice “nothing stays locked up forever” reminder with Gordon getting out of jail. Dean was ready to kill him after 2.10 and Sam thought he found a better way to deal with him, but even Sam now understands that Gordon will never stop trying to kill them. He didn’t even have to become *a literal monster* for Sam to accept it was an “us or him” situation, but that definitely helped in the final confrontation. I still think Sam’s shifting attitude adds to the s3-s4 arc of him gradually going to the dark side too.

For Dean, it takes Sam’s plea to “drop the act” he’s putting on, the false bravado Dean’s been using to cover his own terror about his rapidly approaching fate. Which... is Sam neatly explaining what we all mean by “performing Dean.” While Sam might know there’s terror lurking under Dean’s “everything’s fine!” mask, he’s not aware of the even larger pool of self-worth issues Dean is even more terrified to confront, and his own feelings about what compelled him to make that deal in the first place. But that’s coming up over the next few episodes. Wheee! I guess? :’D

Things referenced in this week’s episode:

The Superwiki page for this episode

My tag for this episode

Casting sides for Dixon

Network Draft full script

Production Draft full script

Blue Revision Pages only (24 pages)

Pink Revision Pages only (11 pages)

Listen now on AnchorFM, or wherever you enjoy podcasts!

[foxthefanboi]

3x07 - Fresh Blood

[mittensmorgul]

(1/2) One thing I saw during the episode that I haven't seen people talk about (although I may have just missed it) is how the bartender is talking to Sam, and convincing him that they should leave, and how people get sucked into staying longer, for just one more game. Sam is concerned that Dean will fall into that trap but Dean insists on playing anyway. I get that Sam was concerned - preforming Dean is all about excess, food, women, alcohol etc.

(2/2) And Sam has only ever seen preforming Dean. However, Dean was the one willing and able to walk away once he hit his target, and Sam was the one who bought into the "just one more game" sucker bet. I found that interesting and shows another example of how Sam doesn't really know Dean. It also shows how much Dean has grown since the last time he gambled with his life.

Yeah, and how Dean isn’t quite so willing to just throw his life away. I mean, let’s think of the last few times Dean’s been through this (or at least similar parallel situations that I believe the narrative is playing off of now):

-Dean taking on the Mark of Cain. No second thought, not even bothering to ask about the unwanted side effects, even when Cain warned him that the Mark came with a terrible cost. Dean had been willing to pay it, whatever it was. Because he was “poison” and this was the one last thing he could do, damn the consequences.

(though at that point Sam had essentially renounced him as his brother over the Gadreel mess, Cas was human for a hot second but angeled himself up again to be prepared to fight the angel wars, and the only thing Dean felt he had to fight for was getting rid of Abaddon)

-Dean perfectly willing to die to save an asylum full of tortured ghosts, because he’d failed to save anyone-- Mary, Cas, even the one kid he couldn’t reach to help earlier in this episode. He’d fully expected to be dragged to the Empty, but not until he’d bargained to free all those ghosts.

(though at that point Dean had reached his lowest point after Cas’s death, and he didn’t want to go on living... until that final scene of the episode where Cas came back...)

-Dean’s rather self-destructive streak back in s3, after he sold his soul and had only a year to live. I mean, even Dean selling his soul in exchange for Sam’s life in the first place demonstrates this sort of lack of care for himself that Sam seemed to be expecting from Dean in 15.11.

(though at that point Dean was struggling with A Lot of direct self-worth issues pushed on him by John, and it’s confronting that burden directly that begins to finally shift the tide for Dean personally)

But to Sam, in-story, even “smaller” gestures of this sort tend to be framed as Dean’s bravado, or Dean having impulse control issues... and I don’t know if it’s entirely a “performing Dean” issue, versus a “Sam’s selective perception” issue, you know? I mean, Dean had sacrificed himself repeatedly throughout the series to ensure that he and Sam had food, shelter, etc. We’ve seen a selection of his FAILURES to provide that, but those have also been framed as Notable Exceptions to the Winchester status quo that Dean mostly was able to maintain, or Sam would never have been able to develop so many misconceptions about Performing Dean in the first place, you know? Things like Dean “losing their food money” gambling it away in 9.07, for example. It became relevant to the story because it was specifically framed as an outlier to the norm of their lives. It’s also framed as something Sam explicitly did not know about, at all, until years later when the current events of 9.07 unfolded. It was always framed TO HIM as “Dean ran away. No reason given.” So in that light, the impression that Dean was irresponsible in this way was reinforced, to deflect responsibility from John. It was a lose-lose situation for Dean, and he agreed to play along with the tarnishing of his own character in Sam’s eyes if it meant protecting Sam from the horrible truth.

No wonder Sam has a hard time grasping reality and separating out the fantasy or his own mistaken beliefs, you know?

Sam has just had a lifetime of training believing that this was inherent to Dean’s personality, this impulsiveness and... for lack of a better term, lack of self-interest in moments like this, or possibly undeserved overconfidence in his own ability. Which is just freaking sad for Dean. Sam still believes (or wants to believe) that he is the “smart” one, or possibly the “level-headed” one. This was specifically the lever that Ruby used to drive a wedge between Sam and Dean in s4, you know? “Dean’s not strong enough,” or “Dean is weak and broken,” or even “Dean doesn’t understand the bigger picture like you do, Sam.”

Despite Sam’s acknowledgement that Dean actually IS a great hunter, such as in 8.14, and the ongoing proof that Sam does put a lot of trust in Dean throughout the series, this little kernel of doubt lingers and rears its ugly head frequently enough for it to have become a recurring theme between them.

Dean’s stated support of Sam’s understanding of the events of 15.09, and his choice to NOT cast that spell to lock Chuck away, despite everything it cost them in that moment. But as a result, it also saved the one thing we’ve been shown Dean can’t live without-- Cas. And I don’t know that’s something Sam fully understands himself yet... despite it being a key feature of the vision of the horrific future Chuck showed him. Because Chuck clearly showed a difference between Sam and Jody and Bobby having gone full berserker vengeance mode, but Dean? Dean had just... resigned... hopeless. Sam doesn’t really understand that aspect of Dean yet, which makes me think it’s something he will, by necessity, have to learn. It’s been a really long time since Dean was all about hedonistic excess, despite the seeming singular example the show keeps pushing in our faces of Dean’s apparently lack of self-control when it comes to food.

He’s still seemingly on the self-indulgent gluttony train, but even this goes directly back to the underlying issue that drove him to all of the anomalous events of 9.07′s backstory. Providing food for Sam, at risk to himself. That was the failure underlying that whole mess of lies-- Dean vs Food Insecurity. It’s honestly no wonder that Dean still has this all or nothing mentality when faced with an abundance of his favorite foods. I mean, this even goes back to 1.18, where he sacrificed his own food to Sam to indulge Sam as a kid. He’d always just been resigned to the fact that his nutritional needs came second, and there’s been essays on that subject written over and over for the last 15 years.

With Jack currently “consuming power,” and that seeming like something he will be facing more and in different ways as Billie’s plan for him comes to light, I think they will tie it to Dean’s literal food issues, and Sam’s issues with “purity” and “becoming strong enough,” as well as Cas’s willingness to self-sacrifice to protect his loved ones... and then be tossed over entirely as all of these issues resolve by the end.

Nine episodes... and a lot of individual and group dynamic issues to resolve, yes?

[foxthefanboi]

Sam Winchester Appreciation Week ➤ Day 5: Favorite Badass Moments

[mittensmorgul]

3.07, Fresh Blood, wherein we learn the worst thing that living for revenge can do is to eventually turn you into the monster you're dead set on destroying. Told through both Gordon's POV, and the vampire who turned him's pov. For both of them, it's a misguided drive for vengeance that leads to their mutual destruction.

Even Kubrick who brings news of the Winchesters to Gordon in prison, helps him get out, and teams up with him to supposedly get their vengeance on Sam, is ready to destroy Gordon once he's turned into a vampire, and is blinded by his own righteousness to the danger... of course Gordon kills him for it. Because Gordon wants to use the thing he feels is a curse (being turned into a vampire) to his own advantage in hunting for Sam, in a "one last good thing" before sacrificing himself.

Which is effectively how Dean feels about what he did for Sam. His soul is tainted, destined for Hell now, but working with Sam and ensuring he does as much good as he can before he dies, he feels as if it's the one good thing he can do. He keeps approaching hunts as if he has nothing left to lose, running headlong into danger he never would've risked, actively using himself as bait, taking risks and behaving recklessly. He already knows he's doomed, so why not play the superhero role until he's dragged to the pit?

Watching that literal warehouse door slam down between Sam and Dean, cutting them off from one another, is a tidy metaphor for what will happen after Dean dies. Sam's left on his own, hunting and being hunted by a monster, while Dean's trapped with someone he believes he's saved, but was actually a trap for him specifically all along. And isn't that exactly what happens once Dean goes to hell? Sam's trapped hunting with Ruby, in the literal dark in this warehouse and the metaphorical dark all through s4, blinded (shaded in Gordon's red vampire vision in this episode) by his growing reliance on Ruby's demon blood powers, believing he can turn his own curse into something good. While Dean trapped in Hell being forced to pick up a blade and kill the girl he'd been trying to save... because she'd been a monster all along. And that manipulation will be the thing that eventually starts the apocalypse...

But in this episode, he gets a really good look at how much that attitude is messing with Sam, and as soon as he sees that truth, he drops the act. He's maybe not ready to admit he's terrified, but he at least stops actively trying to destroy himself, and starts really preparing Sam for the reality of life without him.

[mittensmorgul]

Cas broke out grace eyes as an intimidation tactic, trying to scare her into revealing the information. But if she hadn't broken, he most definitely would have ripped the info out of her mind. As he told Donnie when he did this last season, "No one is going to hurt the people I love, ever again." Cas has repeatedly placed his family above EVERYTHING. Including his own morals and promises.

Yeah, that’s what I said in this post last night:

http://mittensmorgul.tumblr.com/post/183511594670/so-im-still-thinking-about-the-angel-coding-of

Like Dean in s3 after he’d sold his soul for Sam and then spent so much of himself recklessly (especially in the early part of the season) because he didn’t have anything to lose anymore, and why NOT risk himself to protect Sam. He said it really well in 3.07:

SAM: So you're the guy with nothing to lose now, huh? Oh wait, let me guess. Because, uh, it's because you're already dead, right?DEAN: If the shoe fits.SAM: You know what, man? I'm sick and tired of your kamikaze trip.DEAN: Whoa, whoa, kamikaze? I'm more like a ninja.SAM: That's not funny.DEAN: It's a little funny.SAM: No. It's not.DEAN: What do you want me to do, Sam, huh? Sit around all day writing sad poems about how I'm gonna die? You know what? I got one. Let's see, what rhymes with "shut up, Sam"?SAM: Dude, drop the attitude, Dean. Quit turning everything into a punch line. And you know something else? Stop trying to act like you're not afraid.DEAN: I'm not!SAM: You're lying. And you may as well drop it 'cause I can see right through you.DEAN: You got no idea what you're talking about.SAM: Yeah, I do. You're scared, Dean. You're scared because your year is running out, and you're still going to Hell, and you're freaked.

And isn’t Cas in just that sort of position himself now? He may not have a countdown clock ticking his time away like Dean did, but he’s got a similar anvil hanging over him anyway. He can do anything in his power to keep that anvil from falling, but he’s also more than willing to chop off pieces of himself, since he’s cosmically unable to be happy himself, to instead secure the safety and happiness of the people he loves.

And therein lies the tragedy of it.

Hopefully he’ll be able to get to this moment of actually caring about himself and seeing a way through this darkness, and maybe he just needs someone who’s able to grip him tight and raise him from this personal perdition, you know? Because if his loved ones knew what he was going through, they’d be by his side in support in an instant, just as fast as they were to leap to Bobby’s side to help when he asked them to in 6.04. He shouldn’t have to shoulder all of this alone, like each of TFW is wont to do, but asking for help is the first step that he hasn’t even been able to take for himself yet.

Because back in s3, it took Dean three more episodes and confronting his own fear in the form of his “shadow self” directly in a dream state before he was able to admit this to himself:

DEAN: Sam.SAM: Yeah?DEAN doesn't look at him.DEAN (clears his throat): I've been doing some thinking, and... Well, the thing is... I don't wanna die.SAM's expression softens, saddens.DEAN: I don't wanna go to hell.SAM swallows, not answering right away. He nods his head softly.SAM (softly): All right. Yeah. We'll find a way to save you.

(and of course they didn’t, but Dean Winchester will be saved, and because of that he met the best friend he’s ever had who’s still pulling him out of various fires more than a decade later, and now Dean will hopefully have a chance to return the favor, or even maybe being able to step up and stand in the way of Cas meeting the same fate he did in the first place, because this is a different go-around of the spiral removed from the original by more than a decade, and while things might look similar on the surface, nothing is the same underneath)

And therein lies the hope of it.