You'll always find your way back to it - meta

[sams1ra]

You know, I don't even know how to start this, except to say those final minutes of It's a Terrible Life really ticked me off.

Let's ignore the angel's name for a moment, and not go into that whole 'seriously??!!' thing, and think about what he said mmmk?

You'll always find your way back to it.

I'm sorry, that just bugs me so much.

Sure, put him in a haunted building - with his brother. Make sure said brother remembers something of how things used to be, be it via dreams, visions or whatnot. Make sure the brothers meet (and by the way, each time Dean just seemed uncomfortable to see Sam). Get Sam to talk about the supernatural, to put the idea of ghosts out there (and I'm pretty sure Dean didn't think about that by himself, and would have rationalized things to himself had Sam not put the thought in his mind), and then keep pushing him to do something about it.

Dean in this version of AU is DEAN. 100% Dean. He fits in everywhere. Remember, he had no problem fitting in in jail, just as he had no problem fitting in as an FBI agent in Oktoberfest, or whatever other identity he'd assumed.

Dean just fits in.
 
If anything, this AU teaches us that, of the brothers, it is Dean who can be satisfied with normal, and not Sam. Which makes me kinda curious as to how Sam handled the boredom while at school. Actually, having been to college, I remember not having too much time to think about boring, everyday life, so I get that, too.

The thing is, Dean drank that fluffy coffee, watched his weight, ate vegetables (\0/!!) worked long hours, played golf (\0/ !!!!!!!) drove a Prious - and didn't have a problem with it until someone practically slapped him over the head with the supernatural.

He said it himself - he didn't believe in fate, and that's not the first time he'd said that, either. He does believe in facing what's right in front of him, so how convenient is it that what's in front of him is supernatural?
I mean, come on!

Say 1% of the SPN population is aware of the supernatural one way or the other. There's still 99% who are oblivious to it their whole lives! And I believe that, had Dean not been pushed into it, he wouldn't have chosen the path he did.

And when faced with the offer to choose that path in the first place, we see a new face of Dean. Here, Sam was the one pushing to just go, while Dean tried to think it over. He doesn't want to use credit card scams, he doesn't want to live out of motel rooms, he wants health insurance, cuz he knows things will get nasty. He doesn't necessarily think that John's way is the right way.
In Sam it was instinct. In Dean, it was nurture, honed and perfected into instinct maybe, but take the training away and you're left with normal.

And then the angel blew it out of the park.

Fornication is a good thing? Seriously? According to whom, exactly? Living like a vagabond is a perk? Being hunted by the law, never settling down, never having a family, never knowing what tomorrow brings?
I'm sorry, it doesn't sound like a good thing to me.

In WiAWSNB, Dean had his memories. He remembered his training, remembered who he really was. He was tempted by normal, that's true, but his training got the better of him.
("Course I know what you'd say. Well, not the you that played softball, but... You'd say go hunt the djinn.  ... Your happiness for all those people's lives? No contest, right? But why? Why is it my job to save these people? Why do I have to be some kind of hero?") To me, that quote shows that Dean wants normal, he just can't let go of his old life, of what he knows, of his overdeveloped sense of responsibility.

Take away the memory of that old life? I don't think he'll choose to get back to it. Not without a serious shove that way. 

But that's just what I think. 

Comments

[tru-faith-lost.livejournal.com]

I agree. Dean's never been given the chance to consider other options, never entertained anything else. Just because he's good at everything doesnt' mean he's destined to do this one thing. Though, I really don't have a problem with the stipulation that he's born to hunt. I mean, I know a lot of people who are good at just about everything, and it's really not a lot of fun to be that way. It's so much harder to find the ONE thing that's your true passion. I don't think this episode established that this was Dean's ONE thing, but I think it would've taken more than one episode to do that, and they just flat-out cheated.

[sams1ra.livejournal.com]

Yeah, well, Sera Gamble. All gore.
*le sigh*

[pinkphoenix1985.livejournal.com]

I totally agree! I definitely think that they could have cut short all the emo and then dealt with 4.17's topic in at least another episode and then everything would have made more sense! not to mention that it would have given us a lot more of Sam on screen!

[sams1ra.livejournal.com]

You know, I didn't think I'd say that, but there really is too much Dean lately. It's like s1, only with Dean in the center of everything instead of Sam - only in s1, at least Dean was in the episode.
It's like the Sam episodes have the right balance, while the Dean episodes are "The Dean Show", without the cool comics and icons, and way too heavy on the emo.
I miss my SamnDean, and I'm getting tired of Sam and Dean. *le sigh*

[pinkphoenix1985.livejournal.com]

WORD!! that's exactly what I think! EXACTLY!! *NODS* I was trying to think of episodes that dealt with Sam "only" and I came up with these: 4.04, 4.10 and 4.13 the rest are more about Dean :/

[lovebanshee.livejournal.com]

I've been thinking the same thing! And it's really been more apparent in these last 2 episodes. OTHoaP: Sam KILLS a demon (and not just ANY demon) in front of Castiel, who isn't quite fond of them in the first place, and then no one mentions it again-- Sam exits episode 30-ish mins in after a kick*ss demon showdown and a 'miracle' talk with Castiel. IaTL: Did sam go back to normal when Dean did? Or did Zachariah have to go find him later? First time I watched it, I was quite sure Sam was just all part of the illusion to make Dean realize he needed to keep hunting. :S

[pinkphoenix1985.livejournal.com]

yeah *nods* it is...

on second read 'cos it's late here XD- you might be on to something with Sam being part of the AU as an illusion! interesting!

[sams1ra.livejournal.com]

This whole thing felt like a fic to me. The only silver lining I see is that so far, we don't know for sure that Dean had told Sam he was the first seal. I'm hoping he'd keep it a secret, but you know how Dean is with secrets...
About Sam not really being there... Good theory, but I don't think I bite.

[lovebanshee.livejournal.com]

That whole Sam thing at the end... it confuzzled me so much. Even after watching it twice. On the third go, though, I picked out that Dean says something about "seeing US run around in monkey suits". YAY! Concrete-ish evidence! Now, I'm gonna say that Sam was real cuz it makes me feel happy XD but I still find it oddly odd that Zachariah didn't even mention him at all, on top of not having him show up. Meh.