You know what's heartbreaking about how deeply melancholy Castiel is? How "this life is a lot of things, but it's rarely happy" for him? It actually takes very little to make him happy. It takes very little to make him smile like this.
A cartoon he can understand. A friendly conversation. Someone who would play "agent" with him. A small offer of kindness.
I did it! Last night I finished Supernatural! Yes, I already knew pretty much what happened but getting to watch it all the way through was very enjoyable. Yes, I cried at Cas’ confession. Not just because I love Cas and lean into Destiel but because it was what Dean deserved to hear. The idea that he was more than what god had made him is a nice through line to Deans character arc and it makes his actions later all the more weighted and emotional. Inherit the Earth is an almost great ending for the show. Sam and Dean are free, the world order is restored and they can live. The Carry On happens and my god do I hate it. Like I will give it 3 stars for only - Miracle - Dean should have got more time with his dog. The pie scene - it’s nice to have the banter between them after so much heaviness the last few episodes. Heaven looked beautiful so it had that going for it. Except the ugly bridge but I guess it’s a construct so…. And I did like the last line mirroring the first Dean line. But other than that. What the hell? I can’t believe someone actually signed off on that ending. No wonder Jensen had to be talked into it. I had actually previously thought the ‘last goodbye’ was really well acted between the 2 on rewatch I feel like Jensen was holding back a little. Whether it’s because he just didn’t like the ending or found it hard to film I don’t know but it doesn’t compare to me to some of the other emotional scenes we’ve had over the years. It’s annoying that it left me just really quite mad and empty. Like all the joy and hope of being with these characters and their journey was just gutted out. I honestly don’t think I’ll ever rewatch Carry On again.
Bonus things - I watched this with my dad who of course had to make jokes at Cas confession scene and Deans death scene so that kinda ruined it. I’m glad I knew it was coming else I would have been really pissed at him. My dad also couldn’t understand why they didn’t show Sam’s wife. He thought it was Eileen.
Bonus bonus. I have been doing my rewatch (casually I will add, I’ve had months in between episodes and seasons sometimes) my dad was on about season 3 at the start of December and we finished it together. Apparently that’s what retirement gets you.
Dean's nothing about our lives is real speech? When he says "everything we are is because of chuck"? He was speaking privately & directly to Castiel when he said that.
Not to Sam. Not everything I am. Everything we are. Dean was having a full on crisis.
"You asked, 'What about all of this is real?' We are." Dean didn't know how right Cas was.
Like no baybee. It'll take 15 episodes, but god himself will tell you Cas defied him and his plan to love you, actually.
i'm a firm believer that cas' confession was so so fucked up like you can't tell your best friend with extreme guilt issues that you love him and that's what's gonna kill you and then disappear forever and leave him to deal with that. it's so messed up. and i want cas to be confronted with the consequences of his actions.
so when they finally get cas, after the relieved hugs and "are you okay"s, i want sam to be so mad at cas. i want sam to yell at cas. "i don't know what you said or did to him, but you need to fix it. i want my brother back. dean hasn't spoken a word in months, he's not eating, he's been sick and depressed, he's lost weight, he's not showering, i barely recognise him anymore. dean has been through so much in his life but i've never seen him like this. now i have a feeling i know what happened in that dungeon but it's not my business. all i'm saying is you need to talk to him, and you need to apologise for leaving him like this, and you need to make it better. ok. good to have you back."
We need more storylines of Castiel heroically saving the world and actually getting credit for it; we need more storylines of Castiel being BAMF and taking charge; we need more storylines of Castiel’s knowledge of lore and sigils illuminating others; we need more storylines of Castiel’s brilliant strategizing and creativity foiling his enemies.
Because he was all these things and the show didn’t acknowledge it.
Here’s the thing I don’t get. Don’t Dean and Cas just deserve the happiness the other could bring them? Like I’m aware of some of the writing that makes Dean too aggressive and dismissive of Cas and that the writers just stopped knowing what to do with Cas so he’s missing from episodes it could have been important to have him be apart of. But overall, don’t these 2 idiots who see each other deserve all the best things that love can give?? Security, forgiveness, comfort, passion, that never ending connection to someone who knows you, to your very soul or essence and says yes, that is what I want for the rest of my days. Like isn’t that what the poets write about? You could have had 2 very broken destroyed characters find each other and be healed by one another and make a point that just having someone with you can make you stronger or better but instead we got what?
I think that the Supernatural fandom doesn't give Dean Winchester enough credit or hold John Winchester accountable nearly enough. I would argue that John's abuse (mental, emotional and physical) and its constant effect in both boys lives is constantly downplayed by a majority of the fanbase.
The parentification of an elder sibling has been proven to cause lasting issues and we see this throughout the show; when Dean is overly protective of Sam, treats Sam's life as more valuable than his own, can't picture a life where he's not needed, and his dismissal of Sam as a valuable contributor in an equal partnership. Dean is often criticized both in canon and by fans for being overbearing and codependent on Sam. This is a direct result of John Winchester's inability to parent.
Dean's emotional repression is shown to be caused by his father's militant behaviors and approach to parenting. Dean doesn't see his feelings as valid or important and thus turns to repression or unhealthy coping mechanisms as illustrated throughout the show. His alcoholism, violent outbursts, and unhealthy relationship with sex are all coping mechanisms he uses not to feel.
Through flashbacks (and some dialog) the viewer is show that Sam is more resentful towards John than Dean, and that he even holds resentment towards Dean for being the "perfect little soldier".
That's part of the reason Castiel is such a great foil for Dean, both are loyal to absent fathers' but while Dean was born with free will he follows his father's orders unwaveringly until sometime after his death, Cass a being created without free will breaks free of the command of his father and from his father's mission, becoming for all intents and purposes a Prodigal son like Sam.
Dean's adherence to his father's word is, much like Sam's rebellion a response to continued and repeated abuse, neither brother is perfect. And their father was the furthest thing from it.