What Is And What Should Never Be

[hells_half_acre]

I just watched What Is And What Should Never Be (2x20) again for timelining reasons.

I only popped it in because I realized I didn't have John and Mary's birthdates on my timeline, and I realized that I could easily get Mary's birthdate by combining the grave stone in Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things (2x04) with the date in WIAWSNB. Also, WIAWSNB has a gravestone for John. So, now my timeline is all nicely edited and correct.

Then I was surprised...

I've seen this episode at least three times, five if you include watching it with commentary...and I still managed to see something I had never noticed before: Jared is phenomenal.

It's easy to focus on Jensen's performance in this one. It's a Dean-POV episode, it centres all around Dean's psychology, Dean gives an emotional speech and cries, etc...and I'm not taking away from that. Jensen does a great job, but throughout the episode Jensen is playing DEAN. The same Dean he always is - the Dean who has sacrificed his whole life, has lost his father, misses his mother, loves Sammy.

Meanwhile, Jared is playing a version of Sam that has never hunted, grew up with a family and a home, is studying to be a lawyer, is engaged to the love of his life, wears dorky clothes, and doesn't get along with or have much respect for his older brother. This isn't our regular brooding, messed up Sammy. This isn't Sammy at all...and yet, Jared magically plays him in a way where he's still Sam somehow, where the Sam we do know is still a visible possibility under this stranger.

I've said it a couple of places, (and you are free to disagree with me), but a lot of the time I actually think Sam is the more difficult part to play between the two brothers. You have to be so subtle with Sam. (Alright, I just get kind of tired of everyone going on about Jensen like he's the God of Acting and completely overlooking how great Jared is). I think this episode is a good example of Jared actually having less screen time, but a more difficult acting challenge. In the commentary, Kripke talks about how both boys came up to him independently and told him how difficult it was to play the brothers as though they didn't have the strong bond that they usually do. Still, at least Jensen was playing a Dean that KNEW about the bond. Jared was playing a Sam who thought his brother was an no-good alcoholic.

Anyway, such a good episode.

Also, I noticed that both Wish!verse-Mary and Wish!verse-Sam tell Dean to "get some rest" at one point.  It's a nice repetition that I missed before, but adds a nice little to the "something is not right" vibe.

Comments

[mymuseandi.livejournal.com]

I think that both characters are difficult to play in different circumstances, and that the actors played them brilliantly. However, you had me thinking, that there was never really a time when Dean isn't canon Dean, unless you count 'The End' 2014!Dean, but even then there's still 2009!Dean in the scene. Ditto for S3's DALDOM. However, Sam isn't canon Sam for quite a few of the episodes, like in 'The End', and the above episode. Makes me wonder if there'll come a time when Dean isn't canon Dean. :)

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think you are right. I certainly don't mean to diminish the fine job Jensen does with Dean, that's for sure. I guess I just get kind of tired about everyone going on about Jensen as though Jared is chopped liver. Dude is talented too.

The closest Dean got to not being canon Dean was when he was Shifter!Dean in Skin, way back in S1. Since then, he's ALWAYS been Dean. Even, arguably, 2014!Dean was still canon Dean, and DALDOM!Dean was just another side to Dean's personality giving him the whatfor...

But yeah, Jared has had the opportunity to play non-canon!Sam, Meg!Sam, and Lucifer!Sam...whereas Jensen is always..WAIT!

It's a Terrible Life! Dean was non-canon Dean in that! Ha, can't believe that didn't immediately leap to mind. I was even thinking about it while I watched WIAWSNB.

So there you go, Jensen has had the opportunity to play non-canon!Dean too. As I recall from an interview he had about it, he said it was very hard. I think he did a fine job though. I love that episode.

[mizzykitty.livejournal.com]

I don't even remember gravestones! What were their birthdates?

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

I don't have a birthdate for John, but he was born in 1954 (according to the gravestone). It doesn't really mesh well with fighting in Vietnam, so we'll have to assume he lied about his age when he enlisted and had a fucked-up teenage experience because of it. :-P

Mary was born on December 4, 1954. December 4th also happens to be the same date that Sam and Dean successfully saved Britannia Flight 424 in 2005.

[mizzykitty.livejournal.com]

I'm going on 53-54 for John. I had a reason behind 53 but I can't remember now. In any case, you could enlist when you were 17 as long as you got parental permission. I could just imagine young John getting all patriotic and excited, possibly with the idea that he was going to get to see/experience the world. What a total disappointment it probably turned out to be. Poor thing.

Haha, I like to think that she's slightly older than him.

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Yeah, in my mind '53 makes a bit more sense. Everyone I know that moved to Canada to avoid the draft was born between 1945-1950, so the closer to 1950 the more believable that he would have fought in Vietnam - and fought long enough to move up the ranks a little.

I definitely see John as the type to get all patriotic and excited and enlist at 17. Plus, we never meet John's parents...so there's plenty of room for imagining that they'd be the kind of people to allow a 17 year-old to go to war.

[mizzykitty.livejournal.com]

Well, he would've been given field promotions, likely when the person above him was killed. And it having been Vietnam, that probably happened kind of a lot, hence it's possible he moved up quite quickly despite not having been there for very long. Which, you know, is probably really friggin scary. Like hi, you're 18, the guy who was in charge is dead so now you're in charge, have at it!

He says they're a family of mechanics. I'd say, white, blue collar family from a small town in the midwest, chances are they're Republican, pro-guns, and pro-military. I could easily see them letting him enlist.

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah...I forgot about field-promotions. That works. So does your image of his parents. I forgot that he comes from a line of mechanics.

[mizzykitty.livejournal.com]

Rick pointed out that Vietnam was not a popular war with anyone, particularly not in 1970, which was towards the end of the war. However, WWII vets tended to be more pro-Vietnam than most. Maybe his dad was a WWII vet. That woulda made him about 45 in 1970, which would be totally believable to have a 17 year old kid.

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Oooo....that makes a LOT of sense character-wise too. Because John raised Dean and Sam in SUCH a military fashion that it would make sense that his father was a pro-military man too...that John was also raised with a bit of "ex-military crap" too.

And yeah, the timing works out almost perfectly, because I'm around Sam and Dean's age, my mother friends in university were Vietnam draft-dodgers, and my grandfather fought in WWII. So yeah, generation wise, it lines up nicely.

[mizzykitty.livejournal.com]

Oh, good point! I wonder if he was really more like Sam when he was younger, rebellious and angry. Maybe he joined up to get away from his dad, too.

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

So many possibilities! I could totally see a mirror between John and his Dad and Sam and John though. And of course, we'll have to assume that by 1983 both John's parents had died.

[mizzykitty.livejournal.com]

I dunno, why are they dead? they're only like 60 or so in 1983. That's not that old! Maybe they had a falling out of some sort, and John being hella prideful (and presumably his dad being the same) they never spoke to each other again? Hrmmm.

I just looked it up and avg life expectancy in 1983 was 74.5. Huh!

Edit: no, that was if you were BORN in 1983. Sorry. If you're born in the 20's, it's about 60. So actually you're right, they could totally be dead.

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Well, by 1983 my grandfather was dead - my uncle insists his old age was sped up by injuries incurred in WWII.

But really, I'm just assuming that since John is all "family is everything!" he wouldn't have stayed estranged from his parents and they would have been present in Dean and Sam's life in some capacity as children.

[mizzykitty.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but he's also very much a stubborn bastard. Like maybe he felt his dad shoulda been the one to extend the olive branch. I dunno. I think it's interesting that the first time they saw each other after the stanford thing, Sam was all wary like he thought John was still gonna be mad. And it was John who just wanted to put it behind them. Considering how he acts with all his other friends who he's pissed off, I wonder if in this case, it was something like, he didn't want to be like his dad. BUT I am completely spinning yarns here so whatevs. I'm sure they were dead before Sam and Dean were born LOL!

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Haha, yeah, it's all speculation. But you do have a point...John WAS a stubborn bastard, and he did have a habit of pissing people off and then never talking to them again.

[akadougal.livejournal.com]

I've been incredibly impressed with Jared in Season 5. Jensen may cry pretty but Jared really has to pull all sorts of variations on Sam out this season. Blowing me away.

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Yay! I really think people get distracted by the character and the pretty tears - not to say that they SHOULDN'T get distracted, I mean, Jensen is very talented. But yeah, Jared's been blowing me away too. He may have started off the series a little "greener" than Jensen, but I really think they are well matched in abilities.

[trystan830.livejournal.com]

i'm totally impressed with both, all the time. :)

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Yay! :)

[trystan830.livejournal.com]

:D