offbalance | Supernatural: Sticking You With Serious Thoughts All Day Since 2005

Oh, show!

But mostly? OH, DEAN. ;____;

The Dean vs. Dean fight killed me, yes. But what really killed me was the appearance of Lisa, and the picnic, and the idea that Dean really wanted to go back to her, raise Ben, and have this normal, bucolic existence. I mean, they touched on that in "What is and What never should be" last season and "The Kids Are Alright" this season, but every time I see Dean longing for home and hearth and warmth and comfort, I just ache for him.

I think there's also a point to be made about fathers in this episode - contrasting Jason's father with John. Neither of them were father of the year, but I think

dotfic made an excellent point when she said that John was acting from a place of fear and desperation, rather than one of malevolence, like Jason's father was. John was a Vietnam vet - they've rarely touched on his pre-hunting life, but in "Folsom Prison Blues," Deacon mentioned John seeing some serious action when he was over there, and yet the issue of PTSD was never touched on. Dean was a small boy, and John was a terrified, wounded man who reverted to "battle mode" in order to protect what he held dear, but he didn't have a unit to command. So in trying to protect his family, he turned Dean into a soldier simply because he didn't know what else to do. It's sad and fucked up, but as we saw this week, there are worse fathers to have, even if John was far from the best.

Part of me would be interested in seeing an episode in the vein of BTVS's "Normal Again," in which Mary died in a perfectly normal fire, and John being convinced about fighting "demons" was all a result of a PTSD-induced psychosis brought on by the death of his wife. (nb: At the time "Normal Again" first aired I absolutely hated it, but now I can appreciate the episode's point and purpose.) It would be a wonderful way to introduce "hell" if they go that way this/next season. (Especially if JDM can take time out of his busy movie career and grace us with his presence.)

I don't know all that much about PTSD except from what I've gleaned from an article here and there, but it would be interesting for them to explore this. They are fighting a war, and it's a long, hard war without a clear-cut end, or if there is an end, it's not a happy one. And it's getting to them. During the first season or so, they thought that their path was clear - get the gun, kill Yellow Eyes, much rejoicing. Now, they've been re-upped into a dirtier struggle. They're tired of fighting. They are tired, and worn out. They want to go home, even though they're not really sure if they have one, or if they do, where it is. They keep getting thrown back into this, and it's really starting to get to them. I really hope that subsequent episodes explore this, because having the heroes be so complicated, so broken, and mostly so human is really helping the base myth arc to become something richer than just two hot boys in a hot car shooting at ghosts. This is also, on some level, a story about soldiers trying to hold to their humanity as well as stay alive. The parallel potential here is limitless.