SPN 6:02 Redux

[oselle]

It's quite remarkable how things that were merely baffling the first time around are now deeply annoying in light of how the season eventually played out. It's senseless for Sam to be lecturing Dean about turning into their father considering he's supposed to be soullessly indifferent to everything. Lisa in this episode was the world's most understanding girlfriend, kindly telling Dean that she knows he wants to be with his brother, while later in the season she'll tell Dean that as soon as she saw Sam, she knew they were over. Then she'll immediately join a dating service, apparently hoping to hook up with some schmo as quickly as possible in order to forget "the best year" of her life.

The Campbells once again fare the poorest, because we know that all the attitude and swagger they displayed in these early episodes, especially towards Dean, was foreshadowing absolutely nothing. The attention that was lavished on these Campbell scenes is all the more striking when you reflect upon how unimportant they would all turn out to be. I don't want to hear anyone from the show claim that Season 6 all went according to some plan, because it's crystal clear that the Campbells were being set up for something big that never happened. It's also clear that the writers, or some of them at least, really loved the idea of this secret hunter's compound in the sticks, and probably sat around talking about how cool it would look onscreen. However, taking a second look at this compound (which appears to be quite the permanent, well-outfitted installation) all you can really think about is why the Winchesters never ran across any Campbells during their 20+ years in the life.

One thing I did miss on the first viewing was the wildly provocative look that cousin Clark Campbell gives Dean when he shows up at the aforementioned compound. It's a look that can only be interpreted as, Mmm-mm-mmm, I'll bet you're just peaches and cream with your clothes off. What say I take you out back behind this tin bunker and we find out for sure? Then we can find out if it's true what they say about how there's nothin' like family.

The look makes no sense within the context of the scene, but it actually makes perfect sense because of course that, or some version thereof, is what everyone thinks when they look at Dean. Cousin Clark is just such a poorly socialized half-savage that he can't help having it written all over his face.

In retrospect, cousin Clark was not at all unattractive for a hillbilly militia troglodyte, and this could have been a nice slashy setup if the general knuckle-dragging doucheyness of the Campbell clan didn't make any such scenario a total turnoff.

The episode ended with that great reveal of the Impala, which was just about the only thing they got right this season. A few weeks ago, Doctor Who did an episode called "The Doctor's Wife" where the TARDIS was incarnated as a woman who was the only possible mate for the Doctor. I seem to recall ages ago reading about a fanfic where the Impala somehow took on female form and was, of course, the only possible mate for Dean. Maybe I'm imagining that, but it sounds awfully familiar. At any rate, she is considerably more interesting than any of Dean's other ladyfriends to date.