And now we go from laughter back to drama... with a scene from S7, which really makes me start humming that Adele song... we could have had it all...."
S7 - Dean finds out that Sam is suffering from hallucinations
Why I chose this:
This storyline had such rich character potential. Also, this was back in the day when I still liked Lucifer as a character (or, rather, I liked Sam's hallucination of Lucifer, because actual Lucifer was locked away in the cage where he goddamn belongs.)
But, instead of talking about potential storylines that may or may not have been disappointing in the end, let's just focus on the one scene.
One, this scene is amazing because Sam is being honest with Dean about the problem he is facing, rather than trying to hide it. With Sam returned from hell and as well as can be given the circumstances, we're still moving forward having learned our lessons from the mistakes of S1-5 - in that we aren't keeping secrets, and we're both fighting together and staying on the same page about things. Does it lessen the drama? No! Because the drama is in the circumstance and the problems being faced, rather than in familial conflict.
Two, there are just so many fantastic, and completely heartbreaking, lines in this one scene - "you can't torture someone who has nothing left for you to take away", "it had to be a mess, Sam, otherwise you wouldn't believe it was your life", and "He says the same thing about you."
Three, just, the PERSONAL relationship that Sam has with Lucifer flows through their interactions here, it tells us so much about the cage - about the trauma that Sam may have suffered therein. There's such a story being told in behaviour, in positioning, in the words and gestures being used.
Four, Jared just knocks it out of the park with that thing he can do where he makes all 6'5'' of him look small and fragile and on the cusp of breaking, and you just sit there going "oh no oh no oh no..."
Five, I know it's happened before this too, but I love how in S4+ we start getting to things that Bobby doesn't know how to deal with either. Bobby has flaws and knowledge gaps, and he's not necessarily always going to do the right thing, or know the perfect thing to say. And you see that here, where he just LEAVES... like, my goodness, dude, that's your adopted son, but Bobby is just like "wow, I'm out" and leaves Dean to it. I don't even mean that as a bad thing - it's just another example of how nuanced everyone's relationship is with each other, and how the characters are all multidimensional people.
Man, I wanted this storyline to continue with this same level of richness - I wanted to see a seasons where we directly addressed hunting when one has a mental illness, rather than just alluding to it. And it would have been fine and understandable if it set back their growth as characters a little - they could have had familial conflict in Dean treating Sam too gently, or Sam pushing himself too hard, and having to find that balance... and having to find some way to recover, or manage, or just move forward in some capacity. I mean, not to complain too much, but I really think it's here where we start really seeing the problems of not being able to plan for the next season/showrunner early... because if Carver really wanted to start S8 with Sam not looking for Dean, then you had your perfect set-up with this storyline, instead of Gamble giving Sam a magic cure that doesn't make sense - have Sam become incapable of looking for Dean - even if you wanted to use Cas as a cure, at least tie Sam's sanity with Cas's existence, so that when Cas disappears, Sam's ability to manage goes with him. That's seriously what I have to headcanon in order to make S8 (and Sam's "cure" for that matter) make any damn sense. /rant.
Really, I love this scene because it's RICH with character and possibilities, and if you just watched to this point, and didn't know the future - you could right so many different kinds of stories going forward.
S7 - Dean finds out that Sam is suffering from hallucinations
Why I chose this:
This storyline had such rich character potential. Also, this was back in the day when I still liked Lucifer as a character (or, rather, I liked Sam's hallucination of Lucifer, because actual Lucifer was locked away in the cage where he goddamn belongs.)
But, instead of talking about potential storylines that may or may not have been disappointing in the end, let's just focus on the one scene.
One, this scene is amazing because Sam is being honest with Dean about the problem he is facing, rather than trying to hide it. With Sam returned from hell and as well as can be given the circumstances, we're still moving forward having learned our lessons from the mistakes of S1-5 - in that we aren't keeping secrets, and we're both fighting together and staying on the same page about things. Does it lessen the drama? No! Because the drama is in the circumstance and the problems being faced, rather than in familial conflict.
Two, there are just so many fantastic, and completely heartbreaking, lines in this one scene - "you can't torture someone who has nothing left for you to take away", "it had to be a mess, Sam, otherwise you wouldn't believe it was your life", and "He says the same thing about you."
Three, just, the PERSONAL relationship that Sam has with Lucifer flows through their interactions here, it tells us so much about the cage - about the trauma that Sam may have suffered therein. There's such a story being told in behaviour, in positioning, in the words and gestures being used.
Four, Jared just knocks it out of the park with that thing he can do where he makes all 6'5'' of him look small and fragile and on the cusp of breaking, and you just sit there going "oh no oh no oh no..."
Five, I know it's happened before this too, but I love how in S4+ we start getting to things that Bobby doesn't know how to deal with either. Bobby has flaws and knowledge gaps, and he's not necessarily always going to do the right thing, or know the perfect thing to say. And you see that here, where he just LEAVES... like, my goodness, dude, that's your adopted son, but Bobby is just like "wow, I'm out" and leaves Dean to it. I don't even mean that as a bad thing - it's just another example of how nuanced everyone's relationship is with each other, and how the characters are all multidimensional people.
Man, I wanted this storyline to continue with this same level of richness - I wanted to see a seasons where we directly addressed hunting when one has a mental illness, rather than just alluding to it. And it would have been fine and understandable if it set back their growth as characters a little - they could have had familial conflict in Dean treating Sam too gently, or Sam pushing himself too hard, and having to find that balance... and having to find some way to recover, or manage, or just move forward in some capacity. I mean, not to complain too much, but I really think it's here where we start really seeing the problems of not being able to plan for the next season/showrunner early... because if Carver really wanted to start S8 with Sam not looking for Dean, then you had your perfect set-up with this storyline, instead of Gamble giving Sam a magic cure that doesn't make sense - have Sam become incapable of looking for Dean - even if you wanted to use Cas as a cure, at least tie Sam's sanity with Cas's existence, so that when Cas disappears, Sam's ability to manage goes with him. That's seriously what I have to headcanon in order to make S8 (and Sam's "cure" for that matter) make any damn sense. /rant.
Really, I love this scene because it's RICH with character and possibilities, and if you just watched to this point, and didn't know the future - you could right so many different kinds of stories going forward.