(no subject)

[oselle]

Having now watched almost every episode of Season One, I thought I needed to update my partial list of Dean Winchester torment from last week. Since baylorsr has already helpfully catalogued the torment, bondage and partial nudity in each episode, I thought I’d just do my personal Top Ten. There were so many good things to include, but one scene kept standing out and description of it grew so long that I figured I’d talk about it on its own. I’m sure liptonrm already knows what I’m talking about.

So I give you my assessment of the ultimate Dean Winchester abuse, from the last episode of Season One, "Devil’s Trap."

This scene takes at almost the end of the episode, in a deserted Evil Dead-worthy cabin where the boys and John have gone to hide out from the Demon. Dean discovers that John is possessed by the Demon and the Demon has pinned Sam and Dean to opposing walls (these guys get pinned to walls a lot, don’t they? Nothing suggestive there).

Demon John indulges in one of those lengthy mindfuck monologues that fictional villains, whether they’re Yellow-Eyed Demons, Voldemort or Dr. Evil, always seem to get lost in. Dean actually tells him to get on with it because he can’t stand "the monologuing." Neither can I, Dean. Neither can I.

The best thing about Demon John’s taunting rant is discovering that Jensen Ackles apparently has control over every tiny muscle in his face, because he can make each one twitch individually to represent disgust, anger, etc. Jared Padalecki attempts the same effect with mixed results.

There are many awe-inspiring closeups of Dean looking wonderfully defiant with his intense gaze and amazing trained facial muscles, and some silliness about Dean killing the Demon’s "family." Then the Dean-torment suddenly goes right off the frigging meter.

Demon John finally decides to stop blathering and get down to serious business. Using the evil power of his mind, he makes Dean hemorrhage from the inside out. Blood erupts from Dean’s chest and floods down his shirt. Obviously, this is excruciatingly painful and Jensen Ackles works the suffering into oblivion. He tries to get through to his father somewhere inside Demon John, spitting out "Don’t you let it kill me!" through manfully gritted teeth. Demon John is, of course, relentless.

What happens next elevates this scene way above the usual poundings that Dean gets. Demon John lets up for a brief moment. Dean’s pretty much done for. Barely conscious, he looks up into his father’s eyes and, through entirely ungritted teeth and a mouthful of blood, whispers,

"Daddy, please."

And then passes out. Still pinned to the wall, he can’t collapse and so only his head falls forward. A stream of dark-red blood flows, with great drama, from his parted lips.

At this point, I fell off the couch and rolled beneath it, the better to regain my composure amongst the dust bunnies.

When I came to myself, I could watch the rest. Dean’s begging for mercy finally got through to the real John and the Demon-light fades from his eyes, long enough for Sam to burst free and grab the Colt. By this time, Demon John is back in full effect. Not able to shoot his own father, Sam dings him in the leg. The magical bullet distracts the Demon long enough for the spell to be broken, allowing Dean to finally fall to the floor. This is beautifully executed, with Dean throwing his head back and falling, then gasping hoarsely and bloodily when he hits the floor.

Sam runs to him and Dean, always the good son, gasps, "Check on Dad...check..." in spite of the fact that he’s bleeding to death and in visible agony. Question: was anyone else bothered by the fact that Sam doesn’t touch Dean here? I mean, Sam’s supposed to be the sensitive one, his brother is bleeding out on the floor and Sam doesn’t try to stanch the blood, put an arm on Dean’s shoulder or even hold up his head. It’s awkward to watch and feels very unnatural.

The scene ends with Sam unable to shoot his father, the Demon improbably abandoning John to escape through the floorboards, and Dean lying on the floor with blood running artistically from his mouth. Aaaaand...scene.

What gets me about this scene is not the superior and beautifully executed Dean-suffering -- which Jensen Ackles pulls off with admirably vigorous conviction -- but that "Daddy, please." Dean is so overcome that he’s reverting to his childhood self, but in more than just language. I’m coming very late to this party, so I’m sure the rest of the fandom already picked up on this, but let me have a go at it.

Oh my God, people, I’m going to talk subtext here. I don’t believe it.

The utterly insane dynamic between the Winchester boys and their domineering father casts a long shadow over most of Season One. Though there’s every reason to believe that John Winchester was a horrible parent, the brothers, both grown men, still snap-to with a brisk "Yes, sir," at their father’s command. Sam is at times rebellious, but Dean worships his father and accepts his word as law. John Winchester returns next to nothing of this devotion, his whole will bent (selfishly, IMO) on hunting the thing that killed his wife more than twenty years earlier. Aside from the occasional manly "I’m proud of you," sort of grunt, neither Dean nor Sam ever really gains his father’s approval, and it’s clearly Dean who suffers most from the lack of it. He’s been trying to please Daddy for twenty-two years and in this scene, in extremis as he is, Dean simply can’t hold it in. This is the entreaty not just of the moment, but of twenty-two loveless years. Oh, Dean Winchester. You poor soul, you.

This kind of makes me sorry that John Winchester is dead, much as I disliked him and wanted Dean to sock him in the nuts at least once. I have yet to see all of Season Two but from the episodes I saw, the craziness of the Winchester clan was not as apparent in the second season. And the craziness is something that helped Season One rise above sometimes flimsy episodes. It was worth exploring and I wish we could have seen more of it.

Especially when it produces thought-provoking, rolling-under-the-couch anguish like this.

Comments

[alchemie.livejournal.com]

You absolutely slay me with your spn posts!

*died and is dead*

[westmoon.livejournal.com]

Best. Product. Endorsement. Ever.

[i-o-r-h-a-e-l.livejournal.com]

*still lurks*

[oselle.livejournal.com]

Ha. Well, I do write ad copy for a living. Though this was much more interesting than most of what I write.

[oselle.livejournal.com]

I keep hearing things...

[oselle.livejournal.com]

Don't worry, what's dead doesn't stay dead around here.

[alchemie.livejournal.com]

what's dead doesn't stay dead

*snorts coffee through nose*

You crack me up something serious!!!

[liptonrm.livejournal.com]

*makes unintelligible noises*

I don't know how many times I've watched that episode and now you're making me want to watch it again. *shakes fists of mock fury*

And just because John's dead doesn't mean he takes all of the fucked-up family drama with him. There is some primo angst in season 2. *hums* I love the things my show does to me.

[oselle.livejournal.com]

Oh, go watch it again. You know you wanna. I just bought the DVD last Friday and I've lost count of how many times I've watched this episode. Well, this scene.

Is ashamed.

[baylorsr.livejournal.com]

You need to get yourself some primo online Dean angst-o-rama, complete with totally fucked-up childhood and FUBAR family dynamics. Allow me to introduce you to big_pink. Start with Red. Then, for your particular itches, I recommend you move on to Fire in the Hole. Have fun.

[oselle.livejournal.com]

Is that fanfic? IS THAT FANFIC!?! Because I'm not heading down THAT rabbit-hole. Nuh-uh. No way.

[baylorsr.livejournal.com]

Of course it's fanfic. C'mon, it's fun down here in the bunny pit.

[oselle.livejournal.com]

I just wrote a whole post about my need to short-leash myself on this one.

[vshendria.livejournal.com]

Oh, God. Yes. So very yes. Devil's Trap made a believer out of me. I never get tired of watching that scene. And Dean begging Sam not to shoot their father, after the Demon has just taunted him ("They don't need you...not like you need them") is absolute perfection. It's the climax of the entire season. Will Sam conform to the ethic of abstract justice and individual right (which, by the way, he and his father have completely in common) or the ethic of nurture and preserving-family-at-all costs that Dean embodies? And Sam chooses family and nurture. He chooses Dean. Perfect.

Now I think I need to go back and watch that scene again.

Erm. I friended you. Hope that's okay.

[oselle.livejournal.com]

the ethic of nurture and preserving-family-at-all costs that Dean embodies?

Aha, but you see, what makes Dean so fascinating is that I'm sure he thinks he's all about the abstract justice and "getting the job done" and all the crap that his father drummed into his poor skull but he's not, he doesn't give a shit about the job when his father or his brother are concerned. And we start off Season Two with him begging Death to let him live so he can finish up the "war" and end with it essentially trading in his own life for Sam's, war or not. He's just so deliciously, wonderfully tormented and conflicted and OMG I LOVE YOUR ICON!!!

No problem with the friending though I have to warn you things get pretty stupid around here which is why I've been flocked for almost the past two years. I hope I can remember how to friend people back.