Dead in the Water

[feliciakw]

Sam = singlemindedly laser-focused on his goal.
Dean = the big picture guy.

Sam: Dad's trail is getting cold. We're wasting time.
Dean: We'll find Dad. But in the meantime, we're gonna kill every evil thing between here and there.

Sam has really changed in his demeanor over the course of the show. The first scene in the diner is particularly interesting. He's very . . . all business with the waitress. Very focused on finding Dad, forget the other hunts. But given the choice between a MotW hunt and having Dean get sidetracked with a girl, he'll take the hunt.

Sam is very . . . well . . . I don't know how to explain it. Very . . . detached? . . . from the case. He has a professional gentleness about him, but seems almost like a business for him. He's not getting emotionally involved with the victims. But you can see him learning things for the first time about Dean, and trying to process these things about his brother. The only person around he seems willing to understand more deeply is Dean, and you can see the wheels turning with the new information.

And where did he get the pointy fingered pondering pose? And when did it go away?

I also find it interesting that this early in the series, which is ostensibly supposed to be "about" Sam, Dean's getting all the active character development. It's in this episode that we learn how he dealt with Mary's death, how he relates to children, how he can relate to people on an empathy level that Sam seems to be lacking this early in the game. And I think it has a lot to do with what Dean says: he's been hunting with John for two years while Sam as been at college.

Also? Sam's line in regards to Dean's concern for Lucas and not believing the case is over: "Who are you, and what have you done with my brother?" Now, either Sam's memories of Dean have changed over the past two years, or Dean has learned over the past two years the value of children as people, or to be concerned about a case and victims enough to be sure that the case is really over. I'm not sure what to make of either conclusion. Perhaps we can read it as a bit of both. *shrug*

Also also? I love the bits of character business that goes on during their conversations.

Also x 3? This ep has some truly creepy stuff. Especially the ghost in the lake.

Sera Gamble and Raelle Tucker wrote it, and this was Kim Manner's first outing as a SPN director. Those were the days, huh.

Comments

[yasminke.livejournal.com]

My youngest considers that the scariest episode of SPN. Freaks her out still.

[leelust.livejournal.com]

I also find it interesting that this early in the series, which is ostensibly supposed to be "about" Sam, Dean's getting all the active character development. It's in this episode that we learn how he dealt with Mary's death, how he relates to children, how he can relate to people on an empathy level that Sam seems to be lacking this early in the game.
Exactly. I was impressed how they menege to do that :) I wouldn't say though that Sam there didn't get some developmant (or should i say development of his r-ship with his family?) Because it was clear that he knows nothing about people in his family (well, almost nothing).

[kalquessa.livejournal.com]

Now, either Sam's memories of Dean have changed over the past two years, or Dean has learned over the past two years the value of children as people, or to be concerned about a case and victims enough to be sure that the case is really over. I'm not sure what to make of either conclusion.

It was all that time hanging out with Alba. *serious nod*

Truly, it doesn't get much better than a Gamble-written, Manners-directed ep.

[mtee.livejournal.com]

Love these reviews. Thank you
I think the "who are you ..." statement is due to Sam being gone - he remembers Dean from his high school memories. More than likely he never saw Dean interact in this kind of situation with children.

Sam is now an adult and seeing Dean through adult eyes. There may have been clues that Dean relates to kids that Sam never caught on to.

Adult Sam now "SEES" his brother.

[feliciakw.livejournal.com]

Re: the reviews . . . You're welcome. :-) It's very interesting in hindsight, now that we've been where we've been in the story, to go back and see where and how things evolved.

Re: Sam's new perception of Dean . . . You make a very good point. It kind of goes along with my first option. Not that Sam's memories have "changed" per se (though I still think that's possible), but that how he remembers Dean no longer matches the man Dean is. And as you say, those are the memories and perceptions of a teenaged Sam; he's now seeing Dean through the eyes of one who has lived as an adult, independent of his family. And he's seeing Dean for the first time as an adult, meaning Dean is an adult. ("Dad let you got on a hunt by yourself?" "Dude, I'm twenty-six.")

I can speak from recent experience that it's very different relating to your adult sibling on an adult level, minus the parents. It's almost a rite of passage in a weird way.

*ponders*