#metacoin

“Jack is the first thing that Cas has ever really put above Dean. When Mary died, Cas instead of being supportive of Dean, actively sought to stop him. I think he feels betrayed twice - Cas didn’t tell them about the snake and that Cas didn’t take his side. That on top of all the other emotional trauma just broke Den. I think in hindsight Dean realizes why Cas put Jack first. But at that moment, Dean reverted back to being John’s child, whose main mission from age 4 to age 38 was to kill the thing that killed Mary. It wasn’t until actually faced with killing Jack that Mary’s influence reasserted itself. That’s why I was so stoked when Dean brought her up with Chuck when refusing to kill Jack. John’s hunting came from seeking vengeance; Mary’s hunting was always to save people.”

Thinking again about the snake - which we all kind of understand to be A Big Fuckin Deal in the DeanCas fight, so I won’t rehash that - I think it’s more symbolic than I had originally picked up on.

The obvious symbolism for the snake is the show itself. 'Ouroborus', which was the episode the snake first appeared in, is the symbol of the snake eating its own tail, the unbroken circle. Sam and Dean have been chasing their own tales for nearly fifteen years now, chasing monsters, averting apocalypses, even reliving the most defining trauma of their lives; losing their mom to a yellow eyed supernatural being. Jack killing the snake, as an act of kindness even though it is an act of destruction, can be directly paralleled with TFW finally breaking the cycle (of the show) by killing God (death of the author, literally). I say ‘killing’ but I expect something more akin to God being neutralized or locked out of our universe, but this is irrelevant here. The fact that the snake was killed by Jack himself using his power, is significant, but my own personal spec is that this will be how the series is resolved: Chuck being defeated by TFW using Jack’s powers. Now, after reflecting on Mady’s observation, I think the entire metaphor could be applied to DeanCas too. The romantic subtext that's been slithering through the series for a fuckin decade, but again, just going around in circles, nothing ever changing and now... that changes. I mean the snake’s death was literally the impetus for the change in their relationship, the thing that kicked off their big fight. And this particular fight truly is waaaaay more husband-y (they are literally fighting over their CHILD) than the previous fights they've had. Even though they’ve been at odds, they are still working together, still communicating in an albeit stilted, pseudo professional capacity, as shown in this clip from 15x01, prior to The Rupture:

The fact that Sam is like, nowhere near this one either, is especially telling. While Dean and Cas do share a more profound bond, (heh) usually when there is any kind of conflict it’s Cas vs Winchesters, plural. But this time, it’s entirely just between those two. And at this point (days before 15X09 airs), we kind of know that Dean doesn’t want to fight anymore. He’s expressed this as well as he can given his character, in everyone’s favorite example, the post-Rupture phone call from Golden Time:

Their usual dynamic is reversed here, as well. They are going through the betrayal/forgiveness cycle again here, but this time something is different. Dean is in the wrong, and as apologetic as his emotionally stunted ass is capable of being while he’s still in pain. Cas is keeping his distance, not because he’s working on some other plot line, but because Dean’s hurt him - though he hasn’t exactly fucked off and disappeared for several episodes with a handwave explanation - we are still seeing him and he is, in fact, still a Winchester - saving people, hunting things. He’s still there, he’s just trying to avoid Dean - which is what makes this scene from Last Call so deliciously tense:

Again, Cas is the one walking away from Dean in this scene, just as he walked out on him after Dean said that hurtful thing to him in The Rupture. Dean, not wanting him to go but not willing or able to do anything to stop him. In this was it way sort of vaguely reminiscent of the fight he had with Sam way back in 1x11, Scarecrow. (Thanks to Margaritte for recalling the episode.) Essentially, they argue while in the Impala, Dean yells something hurtful at Sam, Sam decides he’s done taking Dean’s shit, gets out of the car and walks away, leaving Dean - who very clearly doesn’t want him to go but does not, can not tell him that - behind. Sound familiar? There may be more to it that I’m just not teasing out, as Dean and Sam were fighting about whether or not they should do as their father told them, Dean lashing out at Sam about being a ‘good son’ - whereas Dean and Cas where more or less fighting over... well... parenting a nephilim with a soul deficiency. There’s definitely a cyclical element there that fits, the son in S1 becoming the father in S15. The fact that the scene in 1x11 took place at the Impala, which was their ‘home’ at the time, and 15x03 took place in the bunker, which is.... well, you get the idea. I do find it incredibly interesting that many of these key scenes seem to take place with Dean at ‘home’ in the Bunker; the only reason he’s even there to answer the FBI phone in the Golden Time clip above is because he’s sat in the Bunker moping around in his pajamas while Sam and Eileen are out.

All hail Amanda Tapping. Now I didn’t catch this shot, other than noticing that it seemed odd for what it was shooting - but that’s because the pesky dialog and characters in the background aren’t the goddamn point. I’ve gotta give @naruhearts @thetwistedwillow​ and @castielslostwings all the credit in the world for a) bringing this up and b) midwiving this shit out of me. The first thing I’ll bring up is the (white) cue ball and (black) 8 ball being positioned across from each other, easily interpreted to represent good and evil. The three numbered balls positioned defensively, or perhaps defiantly, in a row in the middle: green stripe (Dean), blue stripe (Castiel) and maroon solid (Sam). The Dean and Cas balls are stripes, but the Sam ball is a solid. To me, it’s intentionally differentiating Sam from Dean and Cas - those two have something in common with each other that they do not share with Sam. (Hint: it’s romantic love.) This is especially notable considering the maroon color of Sam’s ball is also available in a striped ball in any given set. The cue stick between the white ball and the numbered balls indicating the divide separating TFW and good - God and his self-imposed restriction from meddling in human affairs - evil (8 ball) has no such restriction, while still being in opposition to or confrontation with the colored balls. So TFW is left to fight evil or Lucifer without assistance from God or Heaven.  Additionally, the lights above the table - notice how there is three framed together and one on the opposite side of the pillar? One off on its own. Anyone who has read my Jack Meta piece knows that this episode spent a good chunk of time painting Jack as ‘other’ in the context of TFW. I believe this also represents that, three lights (Dean, Cas, Sam) together and one, the same but separated (Jack). Dean, Pamela, and ‘drunk’ vamp are also framed together within that shot - further representing three together, as well as the three stools and the three beer taps. These don’t have the single lone figure off to the side, (though the stools might, there IS one on the other side of that post but honestly it’s not really a focal point in this shot) so I think it’s more about the unity of the three than it is about the isolation of one. There is a whole load of actual color meta that can be read from this, but I’m not going to go into that here.

Now, the benefit of hindsight here is that I can pat myself on the back for the stuff about Jack being framed as ‘other’, but the real treat is that now I can look back on this and go ‘Wait! the fucking pool cue is Jack too!’ - I’ve specced that the ultimate endgame move for the show will be to have Jack resurrected at full power and use those powers to defeat a weakened Chuck, possibly locking him away like Chuck had once done to Amara, but more likely just locking him the fuck out of our universe. Looking back at this, I think it’s plausible that however it’s done, Chuck is going to be cut off from the rest of our world by Jack, much like the cue ball is cut off from the others by the pool stick in the shot above. While this does slightly alter my original perception of the visual narrative in this shot, foreshadowing God being cut off from the rest of our world deliberately by Jack versus Chuck cutting himself off from our world and the boys’ fight against evil, one thing remains the same - it’s still TFW vs evil, unrestricted. I’m taking this to indicate that by the end, they’ll not have sealed off Hell completely, or permanently rid the world of monsters, but they will still be there to fight them, or (hopefully) advise and assist others who choose to do so, in a more supervisory capacity. Interestingly, now that we know Rowena sits on the throne as the Queen of Hell, given her own character journey it’s entirely possible that there is a further layer to the positioning of the balls in this shot. Evil, or in this case, the Queen of Hell herself, could very possibly be read to be... on the same side as TFW against Chuck, you could say, backing them, even... Now there’s an interesting thought. Well, time will tell, anyway.

Now, I know you’re saying, ‘But Coin, why the fuck are you rambling about a shot of balls from over a year ago, now? What’s this got to do with the Drowning video? Why are you posting two separate analyses in one night when you usually average about one post per year?’ WELL. I’ll tell you, since you’ve asked so nicely. It was another blink-and-you’ll-miss-it shot from the Drowning promo video, but I would’ve shot up from my seat in triumph when I saw it, had my sciatica not been acting up. Behold, my validation:

What’s that you say? I’m insane you say? Well, you’re not wrong, but neither am I:

Look I spent like three days teaching myself to make gifs from blu-rays I haven’t figured out how to make the words I add to pictures shrink legibly when I resize for tumblr and I’m not gonna figure that shit out tonight, so just - it’s the fuckin balls again. The TFW balls are positioned with Dean and Cas together and Sam slightly off on his own, one space away from Dean. Maybe the orange solid ball between them is Eileen, GASP! maybe it’s Rowena because GINGER, maybe I just need to go to bed, but I’m NOT seeing things.

Let me just start by pointing out that while I do believe that Stuart is a mirror for Cas, The whole toxic fanboy/incel/chan troll shtick isnt reflective of Cas as a person in the way we (I) would normally judge someone like that.  I’m not sure if it’s because Davy actually sympathizes with and sees no harms in humanizing those people, or if it was for the fun of playing with a character like that, but there certainly are some parallels there - in the sense that even within his own community he’s  a misfit, rebellious, and argumentative. either way, the trench coat is pretty damning. 

Girl Sam comments that the store had been left to her and Dirk, but Stuart had been fired twice, the previous owner kept catching him stealing. But they hired him back because “he’s my friend”. That forgiveness, Stuart’s bad choices and lack of ‘impulse control’ it’s all reflective of Cas, even though it paints Cas in an unnecessarily negative light, on the surface it’s arguable but not entirely wrong. When Stuart pulls out the Panthro toy, his response is: “so angry, so handsome” and damn if that doesnt describe Dean lol.The fact that the first thing we see him do is steal this handsome, angry figure from the place it was sent is just another Dean detail. 

Hey you know who else got stabbed in the gut like that and almost died?

These two are the strongest mirror in the ep. Bonding over candy, shared fashion sense and a love of horror flicks, Dirk tells Dean (those names) that he wants to ‘watch over’ Stuart while he is unconscious, and that despite his rough edges, Stuart has been there for him, giving him a place to crash and escape his shitty father. Which, I mean, this is heavy handed as fuck, presumably to make sure the GA doesn’t miss it, but seriously all this kid needs is an American classic muscle car and a love of Led Zeppelin. 

This where I 

curse my inability to gif because it’s the sublest of moments here but when Dirk asks Dean which of the All Saints Day movies is his favorite, Dean throws a quick glance over his shoulder, as if to make sure nobody is listening. He’s so used to hiding this side of himself, the nerd, the fanboy, that even though he’s a grown ass man that regularly kills supernatural evils, he instinctively looks around real quick to make sure he won’t get caught having this conversation. It’s heartbreaking, and I think, attributable entirely to Jensen - but that’s entirely spec on my part. He does this three times in this scene, before finally getting comfortable and enjoying Dirk’s company. Jesus you’d think he was engaging in some kind of elicit trade the way he’s got his head on a swivel. Poor thing. 

“growing up it was always nice to check out for while… I like to watch movies where I know the bad guys’s gonna lose.” Dean’s preferred method of escapism is relatable, sure, but  he’s also point blank telling us right here, WHY he’s been hiding out in his room watching these movies, he’s self-soothing. He’s just revealed that he was awake and drowning the entire time he was possessed by Michael, he doesn’t know why he was ‘released’ but he knows he came home to find a ‘house full of strangers’. The fact that his self care at this point is pizza, beer and movies the way he did as a kid rather than cheap whiskey, the way we’ve seen him do as an adult, probably speaks volumes to how actually affected he really is.  

Dean being the one to wrestle with the father figure - the owner of the store who taught them everything they know before his death, leaving them the business to run and then possessing the lifesize figure of a mechanic who’d been literally burned in order to get revenge on the one who’d been stealing from them - I hate the idea of a John vs Cas parallel and I don’t think it was intended to go that deep, but there’s no denying a paralell between the ghost of Jordan and John.  

The thread on these two, in my opinion, is a little thin. Beyond the ‘ha ha Sam’s a girl’ joke, and their shared science nerd bit here, the main thing really is that even though the store was left to Sam AND Dirk, it seems like Sam is the defacto leader. She’s the one we see dealing with the incoming delivery, she’s the one behind the counter, and she’s the one who called Stuart to call him out on their one star yelp review. At this point in the season, Sam Winchester is the defacto leader of the new hunter collective he’s inadvertently assembled by way of rescue hunters from Apocalypse World. She also demonstrates Sam’s usual ‘lore’ skills, figuring out that it’s the keys that the ghost is most likely tied to, and finding a chemical in the morgue to use as an accelerant to help rescue Dean. That’s literally all I’ve got on them two. 

This is random, but the significance of that poster has been bugging me since the live airing of this ep. I do not understand that reference and it’s driving me bonkers, so if anyone does, PLEASE TELL ME.