Ohhhhh the 1x12 Faith parallels, Sam wants to save Dean so bad he latches onto an idea and refuses to let go, even as Dean is very clearly telling him no. And the fact that with Faith, it tears Dean apart to know that someone died so he could live, Sam knows that, or at least he should, and yet his solution this time is to make Dean harvest people's organs for the rest of his life? These last couple of episodes have been an exercise in desperation from both of them and they keep talking past each other, too wound up to think clearly, Sam's go to response is to seek a quest, Dean's is distraction and when that fails, he asks for help, and then when that fails too, he strikes out on his own, action but in opposite directions
The way the stupid fucking bmol storyline completely forgets that Bela at 14 was able to make a crossroads deal, eliminated the supernatural completely my ass
The Winchester Wardrobe: Dean's 'murdering the Stynes' outfit from 10x22 'The Prisoner'
(Please hold as I eventually get a bit off topic)
(this one!)
In this episode (and really this entire arc and season) Dean is being framed as a villain and a monster (which is soooo sinister). He's covered in blood and he just killed a character that the episode was treating as a focal point, and had framed in the role of the victim*. Cas accuses him of being different because of the MoC, and then Dean precedes to beat Cas up.
And one of the things I noticed about this scene (either while watching or because of a gifset, i cant remember) is how washed out Dean looks. He's practically greyscale, and not only that, but he's dirty. I have griped about the set design in the latter half of the show, and especially about the bunker before, and that carries over to the characters a bit too. Not so much Dean, they like coating him in stuff, but the overall look and framing of the show has gotten cleaner, brighter, more saturated and more pg. This Dean though, looks almost like he stepped outta the early seasons.
(comparison to Cas so you can see what I mean! It looks like there's a filter over Dean)
Not just in looks, but in actions and philosophy too. Witches, the Benders, straight up serial killers, Nazis. This is not the first (or last, but i suppose they don't actively call themselves nazis and don't have hitler so ¯\_(-_-)_/¯) time that the characters have killed humans that are murderer and monsters in actions. These ones just happen to be rich and clean and attractive. (and Cyrus*)
Thinking about it like this, this image of Dean (and also the desaturated vision/dream/flashback from 10x09) frames not only Dean, but also the themes and philosophies of the first part of the show as mindlessly violent and unreasonable. The beginning of the show was really into the idea of 'the world is real and there are real monsters and sometimes the monsters are us' versus the latter half of the show leaning more towards a more cut down, simplified less interesting idea of 'the world is a setting for our family drama and murder is bad (but only when it's specific people)'
And before I get into the * of it all, i would like to bring up episode 15 of season 3, 'Time is on My Side' because it is Very similar to 10x22, but is framed completely differently.
(the shots from 3x15 are pretty saturated, but notice how warm and dark the colours are and how the world looks lived in and real. Rumpled sheets, pulled out chair, jacket on the bed, kitschy chandelier vs. the harsh, clean, concrete bunker, and the crisp rectangles of the police station.)
First, wildly, Dean is wearing almost exactly the same outfit. In fact, considering it's been about 7 years, it very well could be the same outfit, and the over shirt is just faded. I don't have much to say about this aside from the same outfit/character meaning same or similar mindsets/philosophies, but this is the wardrobe series and I'd be remiss if i didn't mention it.
The biggest similarity of the eps is the frankensteining, which I'll be focusing on, but there are more. In both, killing people and stealing human body parts in order to prolong their own lives. However, Dr. Benton was a single person who outright says that he only takes when he needs, and only takes what he needs from people. He works out of wherever he can set up shop. He does his best to care for the victims afterwards, sewing them up and trying to stave off infection, and some of them even survive. The Stynes on the other hand are basically an institution. Maybe dozens of them are using body parts, not just to prolong life but in order to enhance their own bodies. It's a family tradition, they take more than they need, and they kill for fun. Monroe mentions that they're experimenters. They own the town they're based in and if it wasn't for them hunting Charlie, they would have continued on like they've done for centuries.
(Completely different setups. Benton is an actual doctor but the Stynes and the ones wearing white coats, and there's a massive wealth disparity. Also see how the Stynes hoard organs and parts while Benton does not)
Sure there's acknowledgement that both are Bad, but hunting Benton is seen as the obvious choice (with some exception to the overarching plot) while Dean wanting to hunt the Stynes is met with appall. And in terms of their overall fates, the Stynes get off relatively easy with Dean quickly and efficiently killing them all off, while Benton is buried alive for eternity. (Dean did make Monroe suffocate until passing out and then breaking his neck, but Monroe was planning to experiment on him forever, so) The focus is not on getting rid of a monster, but on how bad Dean's become, which is so sinister because the Stynes are worse in every way
Okay, now we'll talk about the *, and by that I mean Cyrus. (and more wardrobe talk)
(this guy. off topic, but the first time I saw the actor Connor Price was on a show called X company)
His first outfit is all greens and browns (and a jacket, but I'll get to that). He's wearing khaki pants, a green and brown gingham button down, and glasses. He's playing video games. Cyrus' appearance is supposed to endear the audience to him, not only because he's kind of a nerd (he gets bullied in his first scene) but also because it's reminiscent of Sam and Dean (the good guys) but it also sets him apart from his family, who generally wear black and white (or colours around there). The glasses are also a signal that he's not partaking in his families extra curriculars, because his vision isn't perfect
(he stand out as being the only one dressed in colour)
Later, when his dad, brother, and cousin want him to join the family business, he gets dressed in a white lab coat. It gets put on him because he doesn't want to participate in butchering this kid, even if he's a bully. But he does so anyway
Afterwards he's covered in blood. Not just the lab coat, but presumably his shirt underneath. He's been blooded, ie. he's made his first kill. Cyrus is officially part of the family, and now he both looks and is like them.
For his final outfit change he wears a white shirt, and now is when I'm going to mention the jacket. The white shirt matches him with his brother in the second picture, but also the rest of the family. He's gotten rid of the green and brown because he's not that person anymore. BUT Cyrus also puts on the jacket he was wearing in his very first scene. As you can see, the jacket is black and white.
He was already like his family before. Maybe not on an internal core level, but he's willing to take advantage of the harm that his family causes for his own gain and comfort. That first picture is him coming out of Styne hall, he grew up rich, his cousin saved him from being bullied. He's willing to wrap himself and wear the colours of his family if it means it protects him. When he objects to participating, his brother asks if he doesn't want to be like them. Cyrus says that's not what he means. When he's confronted by Dean he says he'll do anything if Dean won't kill him, and that's kind of the problem.
He may not want to be part of what his family does, and might be want to leave, but he neither condemns nor fights back against it. And he is young, but he's also an adult. He's playing video games when he says he wants to move to LA, so clearly he's not that eager.
Contrast that with someone like Sam, who also objected to the family business and wanted to move to LA, who was living uncomfortably in poverty, constantly fighting his dad and eventually just walked out and moved with almost nothing. Or even Dean, who also grew up in poverty on the road, and while he did try to follow after his dad, we know that he wasn't always successful and he would be punished and berated. Not to mention that he had someone to look after. Cyrus is going through nothing close to this, and he still doesn't leave!
He is complicit in everything that his family does because he knows about it and doesn't do anything about it and doesn't try to remove himself from the situation. Yeah, he was trying to not die, but so was Dr. Benton. If he was allowed to survive maybe he would have become a better person and try to make reparations, but more likely he would have just continued to live off the fortune his family made exploiting vulnerable people
