The thing is...s14 sam and Dean's anger about Jack's murder feels a bit ooc because it's basically incomplete imo.
Dean's anger about Jack is super justified. But that's not alll he'd be feeling. This is the same kid they were all scrambling to save a few eps ago. If they didn't love Jack, they wouldn't have done everything that they did to save him. Including bringing him back using Lily's magic. Which is very dark for them. Which is why Sam blames himself. (It's a bit weird coz they all made that decision together, not to mention Jack himself was supposed to have a say in it which is partly why Cas went to Heaven personally. The Empty intervened and caused problems but Sam doesn't know that. So he's just kinda blaming himself in his grief rn. It was def a team effort).
So imagine your son is soulless and it's because you couldn't bear to lose him and it's because he's saved his family so often. Ok ok themes there but now forget all that. Grief won't remember it. Ok, fine. Keep that aside.
Now imagine your son kills your mother. You lost your mother again. Your son KILLED your mother. Your son killed your MOTHER. but also. Your SON killed your mother. That's a double loss at a bare minimum. It's a huge betrayal. It's not something you just fail to mention. That wound. Jack and Mary were hanging out together because they're both family. If they had known. Oh, if they had known. (Which is why Dean is so mad at Cas. That's an additional betrayal from your husband too. And Dean and Sam blame themselves too - which is actually fucking mentioned, as it should be!).
I just think that the fact it was Jack who killed Mary is a huge crushing blow to all of them even aside from Mary's loss by itself. And it's so wild that the writing simply doesn't mention it with the emphasis that it should. They say a few sentences about it at best. But where's that gutted sense of betrayal and grief towards your son. We have anger which is fine but it's so vapid without the other emotions being brought out. And even if you argue that the anger is actually just a mix of all these emotions, they still have to SHOW us that. The writing owes it to the story and these characters. And yet all we get is: oh god they're so angry. 🙄😑😐. Esp Dean. Even though we're Told Sam is angry we just don't see that (it's prolly the acting tbh but the writing is not off the hook). God y'all can u imagine s1 sam levels of anger towards Jack. Omg it would have been so good. Would have made give a single fuck more about Sam and Jack bond I'll tell u that much.
To be clear, everyone here deserves to be angry. Idc abt that. I want them all to be even bigger messes if anything. But it is just not narratively satisfying to have their bigger emotions untold. It makes the characters feel too distant from the viewer. It's like I'm supposed to be in their head and heart, but I'm looking through binoculars instead. It's not good¡!!! Ugh. It suckssssss.
Ur telling me Dean looked at the kid he took fishing and taught how to drive and had to listen to him say Mary was at fault coz she was just being too much of a pushy bitch so anyway she's dead now but you get it don't you, guys? And he just had to take that? The heartbreak doesn't even begin to seep into the story they way it rightfully should. (Yes ik Jack is soulless but like....that does not change anything. And Dean IS aware and that's why the box had to be used too....).
I think it's entirely within character for Dean to decide that putting Jack in the box is the last and best move they have. Coz it was. And you have to give them props, Sam and Dean actually put away an apocalyptic threat before it reaches nuclear levels (ofc it doesn't work tho rip). And Dean's been made to do this all his life. Exactly this.
There's something about the family business where, someone is YOUR responsibility to fix specifically because they're family. It's your problem. You fix it. You are accountable. I think both Sam and Dean (but esp Dean) really believe this. It's why Sam's demon blood arc was his problem to fix. It's why s2 happens. It's why he and his family had to be the ones to take on and try to kill Godstiel. It's why Sam and Cas releasing the Darkness ultimately still means shared responsibility to Dean. And it's also going to be a part of why putting Jack away before he can murder the world is also up to them. When Dean first met Jack and told him he'd put him down if he got dangerous, he said that as a sympathetic hunter. When Dean actually has to put Jack away, he did that as a grieving father and also a grieving son. And when Dean decides to take on the burden of killing Jack, it's the same. He knows it will kill him too. And he also knows it's his responsibility to do it. To save the Jack who's not Jack. To honor what the real, previous Jack would have wanted for sure. To stop his personal nightmare from becoming true. To honor his own duty as a father. To do his job as a hunter. To do his job as a hunter to save people. To kill threats that take away people's safety and love and free will and autonomy. It really does fall to him is the thing.
(Sam can't bear to lose his remaining family and Cas can't bear it either. And neither of them have a better solution. They're all running on emotions and the box is the only solid practical step they Can do. And when that doesn't work.... it's the gun. That kinda desperation is why Dean, who hates Chuck and is also a God-hater in general, quickly caves when he's given the "only weapon that can kill Jack". They're on a time crunch to fix this and fast. Before even more innocent lives are lost. Jack going too far IS smth they make clear in the writing, tho EYE think they defang the whole thing by making it an issue of his soullessness).
There's just sooo much complexity here and it's all wasted by the shit writing and I'm actually so sad about it. My Berens and Dabb hatred in particular burn sooo strong and bright.
