Also regarding bisexuality
I admit that instinctively I was disappointed in Dean for the strip club aftermath. Part of me hoped it was a ruse for Sammy in order to satisfy his brotherās craving to make Dean feel better, or to get him out the door so Dean could pull something Sammy wouldnāt approve of, and welp. Now I feel pretty lousy that that was my first instinct, and Iām going to explain why.
Dean makes it very clear: he likes beer, he likes chili fries, and yes, he likes strippers. These things are all part of his coping mechanisms, and those arenāt working, and he makes both those things clear in this episode as well. I think the episode essentially makes it clearer to Dean as well as to Sam. But what can Dean do? Keep trying even though he feels itās never going to be okay, or roll over and die and hope his death achieves something? Thereās a whole thing about how Deanās choice to die is a motivational tool to the story structure (the hero at his absolute lowest) that Iām sure other people will touch on, moreover how it relates to how devil may care Sam was in season 1--Iām looking forward to reading it, but Iām going to stay on topic here lol)
The strip club aftermath scene, then: Sam is obviously asleep when Dean creeps out, he returns with his tie wrapped around his head, a pink bra around his neck, drunk and carrying a cat-o-nine-tails. i.e. he went to the strip club Sam suggested without him, presumably so Sammy doesnāt have to hear his sad drunk storytelling.
Itās important while searching for a characterās interest in the same sex not to be effacing his interest in the opposite one. If the intent is that Dean is bisexual (as I strongly believe and personally connect with) then you have to accept that he likes women too. Dean enjoys looking at womenās bodies, and he likes strips clubs the same way he likes chili fries, and karaoke, and riding the bull. Itās a fleeting pleasure, not a commitment. I love fries too but Iām not going to settle down with it.
Moreover before the show reunited Dean with Cas and sent them off for their cowboy bromance together, if the intentĀ is to eventually have Dean out as bisexual, then it canāt be done by turning away from his interest in women entirely. So it gives us this scene imo becauseĀ it gives us the big Destiel reunion at the end. It saysĀ āDean likes both, but Cas is the man heās fallen in love withā.
Why? Why does it haveĀ to do that? I know the instinct is to thinkĀ āoh great another no homo sceneā, but erasing someoneās bisexuality because they settle down with someone of the same sex (or someone of the opposite sex) is a thing that happens.Ā āOh, she was never a lesbian she was straight all along,ā for example. So I say again, if the intent is to reveal Dean as bisexual and romantically interested in Cas, underlining that he still has interest in women, and therefore that all of his past relationships with women were not a lie (as some people might accuse)Ā is pretty fucking important.
Anyway, thatās what I think the inclusion of this scene was saying to the general audience. It was crass, and it made me headdesk, but on reflection Iām much more okay with it. I honestly think the choice of Dean getting drunk at a strip club was less about being with a woman than indulging in a guilty pleasure. If the intent of the scene was Dean getting over Cas with sex, then that would have been what we were shown: Dean going out and hitting on a waitress, or at least checking someone out. We didnāt get that. We got the sexual equivalent of fast food; the strip club is put on the level with chili fries and bacon. Bad for Deanās heart but a bandaid on his soul. Nobody marries fast food. Just like me indulging in the odd fantasy about Misha Collinsā hipbones doesnāt imply Iām going to marry him, either.
And then we got so much Destiel in 15 seconds that international newspapers noticed it.
