Supernatural Meta

[erda]

I've been thinking about my new love, Supernatural, and particularly about Dean Winchester and his religious beliefs for some reason. This contains spoilers up to 4.05.

A/N : I’m not terribly interested in authorial intent here. I know there has been some discussion about the change in the order the Season Four episodes have been aired. I must say I’m glad they changed the order because it allows me to make up all sorts of stuff about Dean that wouldn’t have flown with the original order.

“… kind of like a mission from God." Dean says to Jamie in 4.05 (Monster Movie) Quite a journey he’s traveled since he stated in 2.13 (Houses of the Holy)-
“I believe in what I can see. Angels? I don’t think so. There’s no such thing.”

Dean probably would say he changed his mind due to the hard proof of being pulled from hell by an angel, and on the surface that seems to be the idea here, but is that really hard proof? Or is Dean, like most people, making up his mind based on things less tangible, and then looking around for evidence to support what he wants to believe?

Dean has argued that his lack of believe in a higher good is due to the failure of that higher good to intervene and stop the suffering of all the innocent people on earth, but Dean, like most people, I suspect, really hasn’t arrived at his religious beliefs due to some intellectual argument. His position is due to far more personal, emotional issues.

Clearly meeting Castiel did not immediately cause Dean to change his mind, as he restated his lack of faith repeatedly in 4.02 (Are you there, God?) First to Sam and Bobby in the panic room when he said “See, this is why I can't get behind God. If he doesn't exist, fine. Bad crap happens to good people. That's how it is. There's no rhyme or reason, just random, horrible, evil... I get it, okay. I can roll with that. But if he is out there, what's wrong with him? Where the hell is he while all these decent people are getting torn to shreds? How does he live with himself? You know, why doesn't he help?” and later to Castiel- “There were people getting torn to shreds down here! And by the way, while all this is going on, where the hell is your boss, huh? If there is a God?” When Castiel insists “There's a God. “ he replies, “I'm not convinced.” So what has finally convinced him?

“This is your problem Dean, you have no faith.” Castiel states in 4.01 (Lazarus Rising), and this is Dean’s central problem. He has no faith in God or his mission. Even after Castiel appears, Dean continues his doubting ways. It isn’t until his trip into the past that Dean changes.

All along Dean has been guided by his understanding of the events surrounding his mother’s death, and his idealized picture of her as the ultimate innocent. He believed that the story began that night in Sam’s nursery when their perfect life was ripped apart. But that was not the real beginning, as we are shown in the aptly titled 4.03 (In the Beginning.) the story of his family started long before his mother’s death, and Castiel sends him back to the beginning to help him understand this. Castiel sends Dean into the past to learn what happened to his brother, of course, but also to restore his faith in God.

Dean explicitly states the reason he lost his faith in 2.13 (Houses of the Holy), speaking about his mother and her belief in angels- “Well, what's to tell? She was wrong. There was nothing protecting her. There's no higher power, there's no God. I mean, there's just chaos, and violence, and random unpredictable evil that comes out of nowhere and rips you to shreds.” No wonder Dean has been so lost and battle weary. He’s believed for most of his life that there is no underlying purpose in what he is doing with his life.

Over and over Dean has tried to understand why God did not help his mother, the perfect innocent, and by extension, all the other innocents in the world. But his trip into the past showed him a different view of his mother, showed him her complicity in the events that followed, and made him consider for the first time that the picture is not as black and white as he thought. Dean had to actually witness the kiss between the yellow-eyed demon and his mother to understand her lack of innocence.

Dean still doesn’t completely understand God’s plan, but for the first time he is considering that his mother used her free will to bring about the downfall of their family, that she is not completely innocent, and that perhaps there are other things he doesn’t know or understand, that God maybe does work in mysterious ways. This opens the door for a radical change in his worldview, the possibility of embracing faith without complete understanding, and allows him to accept the possibility of a truly purpose driven life for himself. This restoration of faith may be the main reason Castiel sent him into the past, as he will need this faith in order to embrace the Christ-like role he seems chosen to play in the coming battle.

Comments

[static-pixie.livejournal.com]

Actually, that's a really good connection there. I hadn't thought about it that way, but you're right, Mary's death and the seemingly random ruination of his family does seem to be what has driven Dean's faithlessness. It's so typical Dean that the realization that good people in the world are not necessarily good people would make him feel there's a God and not the reverse. ^^

However, I'm not so sure we're supposed to like faith-driven Dean. His announcement about being on a mission from God sounded too Kubrik-like, as though he'd found another master to serve other than his father (who I think has also played a crucial role in Dean's doing what he's done for so long). And just the week before, Sam threw away the idea of having any master and made a choice for himself, which seems closer to the right thin to do, at least in SPN canon.

[keefaq.livejournal.com]

I hope you're right, cause I'm not that crazy about the change in Dean.

[i-speak-tongue.livejournal.com]

But his trip into the past showed him a different view of his mother, showed him her complicity in the events that followed, and made him consider for the first time that the picture is not as black and white as he thought. Dean had to actually witness the kiss between the yellow-eyed demon and his mother to understand her lack of innocence. I really like this insight. I feel like Dean's world view is bound to be a lot healthier now that he doesn't have Mary up on a pedestal as some pure innocent civilian anymore.

Although so many of us are assuming that because Dean said these words in 4.05, “… kind of like a mission from God," that he really does believe this. But to me, the statement is far from definitive or assertive. First of all, he's in the process of picking up a girl, and while he does seem to be having an unusually frank discussion with her, I can't help but wonder if he isn't hamming it up a little bit for the sake of getting her all hot and bothered. Also, this is a lighter episode, one riddled with pop-culture references. Dean could have just said it for the sake of having a little Dan Akroyd circa Blues Brothers moment. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzOHq5WbQ8k&feature=related) Although, even if Dean did not really have his heart in it, I do think we're meant to wonder if he's at least STARTING to consider that possibility. I don't think he can deny the fact that he's been given the mother of all second chances, and it's nice to know he's glad to be back on the job.

[keefaq.livejournal.com]

I like to think that Dean is not nearly as crass as he presents himself and that he wouldn't use his trip to hell to score, but maybe he would, lol.

[bowtrunckle.livejournal.com]

You make an interesting connection here. And the fact the episode order changes the slant on Dean's seeming acceptance of the divine (or that his resistance to the idea of God is crumbling) makes for great meta beyond just thinking about the characters and their mindsets.

I agree with your ideas here, but if Dean's beliefs are viewed in the original episode order apparently being visited by an angel twice, having Sam (the only person I think Dean really listens to) gleefully jump on the angel bandwagon, and Bobby not overtly contradicting the possibility they may exist, was enough to get Dean thinking. Viewed in this context, Dean's outburst in the motel room in "Metamorphosis" and his seemingly turn-on-a-dime acceptance of angels now makes more sense as it was intended to be a progressive change in Dean's mentality and not Dean throwing barbs at Sam out of anger.

But, as you say, authorial intent isn't your interest here and that's besides the point. However, this brings up an interesting question about how to interpret canon. Is canon and its interpretation stuck to the order the episodes are aired or the order they were written or both? And if both, then what happens in instances like this? Something to chew on for sure. :)

[keefaq.livejournal.com]

I almost didn't post this when I realized the episode order had been changed, but I'd already written it and I wanted to get more involved in this fandom, particularly the meta side of things, so I figured I'd go ahead with it. Personally I find it difficult to exclude something from canon once I'm aware of it, but obviously we aren't going to restrict our character interpretations to only what the writers intend.
So, yeah, this is a gray area.

[yourlibrarian]

It's interesting how in an episode that appears very standalone on the surface the order can lead to fairly different interpretations of Dean's headspace depending on what we accept has or hasn't happened yet. I think that you lay out well how he would have come to this point after what he discovered from his view of their family's past. In fact I find his view of himself to be much more validated. It's his interactions with Sam that seem a bit jarring, though I guess next week we'll discover what the fallout from that was supposed to be.

[keefaq.livejournal.com]

I don't know quite what to make of his interactions with Sam, either. I'm waiting for more information right now, and maybe with some distance we can tease it all out into some sensible pattern.

[empressnerd.livejournal.com]

I agree, for the most part. I think that the statement was probably his way of picking up Jamie but it does reveal the deeper side of things and how Dean is beginning to accept his role.

Mary's inclusion in the myth brought Dean's lack of faith to a giant question mark for himself personally, and by the end of the episode I feel like he was a believer. I think that the icing on the faith cake was seeing Sammy exorcise someone with his mind. Suddenly Castiel's words about his brother made sense; maybe this Cas does speak for God.

Great post!

[keefaq.livejournal.com]

Yes, I hadn't thought about how seeing Sam using his powers after being warned about it by Castiel would affect Dean. Very good point. *ponders*