Episode 7 insta reaction - Spoilers

[amberdreams]

I actually liked this one, it was bloody sad though.

About the apparent disjoint with previous views of Dean's childhood and this one... I think it makes sense.  People are very good at lying to themselves, and this episode gave us a reason for Dean to have done that - and for what amounts to practically his whole life from that point on.

He was hurt by the werewolf and effectively abandonned by his Dad - then while away from his family he gets a new father figure who boosts his confidence, together with a first love. They didn't show much, but clearly this Dean was getting a real taste of 'normal'.  He was achieving things at school and proving himself the way normal boys do.  So maybe it wasn't so much he ceased idolising John and hunting, but started to realise perhaps there were other options? Which meant that ending was totally heartbreaking for me, because you could see him telling himself - no, there was no other choice for him, because there was Sam, sitting in his Dad's car. He had to leave.

Which makes it even more heartbreaking to know that Sam will walk out on Dean, down the line, making that decision Dean didn't/couldn't make for himself.  To hurt the ones you love in order to do what is right for you.  And it just wasn't in Dean's nature (then anyway) to take that route.

To get a Brother car scene at the end with Sam reaching out having seen glimpses of what Dean gave up and Dean making light of it and shutting Sam down? That hurt.

Comments

[chomaisky.livejournal.com]

I agree. And though Dean understood Dad's intention, being abandoned by him just hurt. It must've been hard for a 16-year-old to rationalize this without feeling like having being betrayed. The scene at the end where Dean cried moved me. All those painful feelings he pushed down boiled under the surface and finally erupted at the sudden call to go back to his old way of life. I think it has less to do with which life Dean really favored and more to do with how smothered he felt about his responsibilities and burdens and what a brave boy he was to carry the pain and march on, drawing hope and courage from the smiles of his little brother.

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

YES! Well put... And kind of everything and nothing to do with how much Dean loved his father and loved Sam.

[jj1564.livejournal.com]

I agree, this was a good episode, although very sad. I've seen some criticism that young Dean had brown eyes which was a little annoying but he was a great actor who captured Dean perfectly especially when he cried into Sonny's arms at the end, poor Dean! Also some people have asked why Sam never knew about this and it's obvious now that Dean was doing what he always does - protecting Sam, because he didn't want his little brother to know how much he gave up for him. I want to hug Dean even more than usual!

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

This young Dean's eyes were a bit dark and those little things were a bit distracting at first but I think you are right, this actor was strong and forced me to get over the visuals pretty quickly.

[yohkobennington.livejournal.com]

I watched this episode. I shouldn't have... all it did was to make hate John Winchester more.

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

Ha ha I know, every time they reveal something more, he is painted in a worse and worse light... I reckon they've given up all hope of getting JDM back ever LOL

[yohkobennington.livejournal.com]

I seriously just want to slap Dean for excusing John's shitty actions. I know it's a self-defense mechanism of his to down play the emotional abuse and neglect, but it still makes me so damn angry.

[freya922.livejournal.com]

I agree. I absolutely loved this episode, from start to finish. My heart broke when we heard the Impala's horn honking, calling Dean away from the dance, the girl, a whole life he'd started to build... And him looking at that window and seeing Sam, and knowing he couldn't leave him there alone, in that life... *bawl*

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

And they way he smiled through his tears when he saw Sam... sniffle

[roxymissrose.livejournal.com]

I liked what we learned about Dean so much because it kind of goes along with what I've always felt about Dean. I didn't have a hard time believing that 16 year old Dean was a virgin--we only have Dean's word for all his conquests at an early age. I bet that after John picked him up there was a big change in Dean--I think the Dean we thought we knew came from this episode in his past.

That young actor was absolutely brilliant. He really made young Dean come to life!

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

I think you are right, this could be the start of Dean building his armour of bravado and bluster...

[jackfan2.livejournal.com]

I loved the ep. Probably the best one I've seen in a long long while. This young Dean actor, he did a fantastic job; they hadn't been able to cast a good young-Dean actor in like, ever, so I was absolutely thrilled with this selection.

As to the end, when Sam asked and Dean 'shut him down'. Eh, if anything, if Sam has grown at all, he should know by now, when he scratches too deep into Dean's past feelings of abandonment and his choices from his past that lead him to his present, Dean always reacts the same way. If Sam hasn't learned not to be hurt by that by now, or us fans, we aren't paying attention. I give Sam more credit for knowing his acknowledgement is enough for Dean; but Dean made his peace with his choices a long time ago, at least those he'd made in his youth. It was pretty apparent every time Sam mentioned at any time in that ep, like how Dad abandoned him there for 2 months, and Dean shook it off... so yeah. I think Sam knows better and so does Dean, but hindsight isn't how Dean lives.

I think the future where Sam finds out the more recent choices with regard to Ezekiel will be far more telling. I really don't know how that is going to go but I sure hope the writer's will find a better way to deal with it than reusing Sam's past reactions and history with regard to Dean. We shall see.

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

I'm wondering about Sam's reactions - they do seem to be deliberately building 'something' between the brothers as we get closer and closer to the mid season climax... So yes, I'm hoping for something different - or at least if Sam does react in the familiar pattern, that he will more quickly see past that to something new.