#spn queercoding

CHARLIE: "WE STILL TALKING ABOUT SAM OR DID YOU BREAK UP WITH SOMEONE TOO?"

DEAN: (YEP) "ME? NAH."

DEAN: What I've been trying to say for months. It's time... time to stand down. SAM: You want to quit? What's happened to you, Dean? Ever since – DEAN: Ever since what? We lost pretty much everyone we've ever cared about? Ever since the Mark made Cas go crazy? Ever since I had to bury him in a Ma'lak box? Ever since then?

This. THIS?! is where they cut to Sam so the audience can see his reaction. Not THEY had to bury Cas in a malak box, Dean's literal nightmare, no. Ever since DEAN had to. Cut to Sam's reaction not to losing everyone they've ever cared about, no, but to finding out his brother had to do that to Cas.

Yeah. You know why? 'Cause the monsters – they're everywhere. Everywhere! What we do – it's not even Hunting anymore. It's whack-a-mole. We don't even save people. Every friend we've ever had is either dead, or they got wise and they packed it in. SAM: Jody's still fighting, and Bobby – DEAN: Bobby has a death wish, and you know it. And Jody – ever since what happened to Donna and the girls, she does, too. And after Eileen... so do you.

A list of people who have a death wish or gave up: Sam since he lost Eileen. A Canon Couple. AU!Bobby - no explanation, but he has lost Mary, twice. Jody - Since losing Donna and the Girls. Dean - Since losing Cas.

What is this scene if not a recognition of what Dean and Cas mean to each other? of the fact that Sam knows what Cas means to Dean? Sam has a bigger reaction to Cas than he does to Eileen. Do you understand how insane that is?

The scene is sandwiched btw two shots of the present - between where Dean may lose Cas & Dean's tree side purgatory confession.

It's sliding doors. It's present and future. Yes, it's a future that is impossible, it's Chuck's trick, it will never come to pass, but it is one that's supposed to make an audience feel something while seeing Dean and Cas come back together in real time. It's yet another parallel in an episode chock full of parallels.

If Sam loses Eileen he'll lose his hope. If Dean loses Cas he'll lose his hope. and Chuck isn't only showing Sam a future where they both have already lost, he's setting up a present to make that hopelessness come to pass.

Me: Wait.

The fact that this energy was not Ty Olsson's acting choice? but written into the script? *chef's kiss*

Because the fact is, "A Good Buddy" & "A Close Buddy" have the same energy, and that energy is: "I'm the male vampire that's been F*king your son. Deal with it."

Benny taunting Dean's deceased monster-hunter-father with "Yeah, I'm the male vampire that was fucking your son for a year" while saving his soul is objectively hilarious.

The homophobia and racism allegory is strong with this one. This was written into a Buckleming episode? in season 8? in a production draft? - Screaming.

That's not really "it"? because "IT™" is something I can't show in a gif. "IT™" is not a single instance of Dean getting flustered or watching a man's ass as he walks away.

There's just too much.

There is too much queercoding, Too many pieces of set dec, Too much femme coding, Too many instances of hayes era film references, There are too many under-the-radar deep dive references to queer culture, There are too many 'mistaken for gay' jokes, There are too many 'not my type' 'I don't swing that way' gut reactions, There are too many story parallels to canon couples, There are too many 'interesting' scene transitions, There are too many bizarre episode recaps, There is Just. Too. Much.™ for it to have all been unintentional.

The character was based on queer people, both real and fictional.

So Jensen worked out with Christian Kane that he should slap Dean's ass and Dean should call him a Kinky son of a bitch.

Jensen read that script, saw that bi-lighting, in the bar named Swayze's (x), and said "yes, slap my ass", & responded "you kinky son of a bitch"? ...

Chaos Machine can have anything it wants