SPN Finale Meta Rec

[oselle]

I'm not usually big on meta but sistermagpie has written a really good comparison between the Lost series finale and SPN's series season finale. You can read the whole thing here.

The whole thing is good (even if you didn't watch Lost) but I thought these analyses of Dean and Sam were especially insightful --

"Dean, the brother who since childhood has been all too willing to be a good soldier and someone else's blunt instrument must guard his own autonomy even when the hosts of heaven are telling him God wants him to hand it over. Over the years Sam has often been frustrated by Dean's pattern of self-sacrifice. At his lowest moments that frustration turns into contempt. But in the last few eps Sam learned to use his role as little brother to manipulate Dean in a way that was both clever and kind, first in "Point of No Return" and then in SS. In PoNR Sam tells Dean he has faith that Dean won't give into Michael and although Dean has every intention of giving in, he can't bear to let his little brother down. Sam's love for Dean gives Dean power to do the thing he can't do on his own.

Sam, meanwhile, has always struggled with the idea of being evil, worried that he isn't strong enough to resist the evil within him, and seen himself as isolated from his family because of it. Dean's watchful eye often looked judgmental, as if he were watching Sam for signs of his turning into a monster Dean would have to hunt. But in SS this too is turned around. When Sam isn't strong enough to control the evil inside him in the person of Lucifer, Dean's stubborn refusal to run for cover--his insistence at putting himself at Sam's mercy--gives Sam the strength to overcome. It demonstrates that Sam's always been wrong to think his personal strength was an issue and reverses the mistakes he made in S4 by relying on personal strength instead of Dean. Dean's love for Sam gives Sam power to do the thing he can't do on his own."

Comments

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

Very, very good. Hmm. I hope it can convince you that Sam does love Dean. :)

[oselle.livejournal.com]

Oh, I know that the show's writers want us to be convinced that Sam loves Dean. It's just that they've often done a crappy job of convincing.

[ann-tara.livejournal.com]

Oh, I know that the show's writers want us to be convinced that Sam loves Dean. It's just that they've often done a crappy job of convincing.

I haven't seen it for at least the last two years, and after season five, I'm pretty much convinced now that I was putting too much weight into a relationship that was never more than one-sided, and therefore nonexistent because there's no relationship with only one participant.

I've been reading a lot of meta after the finale in order to be convinced that everything which let me down last year wasn't as bad as it appeared to be, but it's a hard sell.

[oselle.livejournal.com]

Well, this is part of the reason I don't usually read meta -- too often it just sounds like the writer is working very hard to convince herself, and it feels more like fanwank than analysis. But I think sistermagpie's interpretation probably is as close as possible to what the writers wanted to convey (whether or not their efforts worked for all of us), so kudos to her.

[tskterata.livejournal.com]

I think for me and Show, that ship has sailed. Nothing the Writers do now can convince me that Sam loves Dean as much as Dean loves Sam. It used to be, if I read enough fic between the eps, I could maintain the illusion, but not even that works for me anymore.

I think this is why the finale did not pack the punch for me that it did for most fans.

[oselle.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's a pretty tough sell at this point...and I doubt that Sera Gamble's crush on Jared is going to do much to restore a balance of affection in Season 6.