A thought or two on "Bad Boys"

[feliciakw]

I've watched "Bad Boys" a few times since it aired last week. Yes, I really enjoyed the ep. But one of the most interesting things I thought was Sam's reaction to Dean's time at Sonny's.

First, upon thinking about John's reaction and what Dean said about how quickly John found him and the story John insisted they tell Sam, I think John had a purpose beyond "teaching Dean a lesson."

First, it's my head canon that Dean went to the poker game with the intention of increasing the money. Which . . . didn't work out, obviously.

Also head canon--when John came home and Dean wasn't there, he shipped Sam off to Bobby's. Shortly after beginning his search, John found Dean, and apparently told him that he was going to leave him there. What I don't think he told Dean (because John has never been the most forthcoming individual) is that with Sam at Bobby's and Dean at Sonny's, John took the opportunity to do some legwork and research on the thing that killed Mary. He went to pick up the boys when he either hit a dead end, or a significant job came up and pre-empted the research.

Anyway . . .

Sam went through the ep working under the assumption that this was the worst time of Dean's young life. Arrested, separated from his family, sent to "reform school" . . . Dad must have wanted to keep it a secret from Sam because Sam wasn't supposed to find out about the horrible things Dean went through.

But as Sam meets Sonny, hears from Dean that nothing bad happened, saw Dean's championship certificate on the wall of fame, Sam discovers that Dean's time with Sonny was actually really good. Normal, even, by Winchester standards.

And that, Sam, is why John didn't want you to know about it. John didn't want you to know that Dean had lived a degree of normalcy and that he flourished. He didn't want you wanting to stay at Sonny's as well. Easier to tell you that Dean was lost on a hunt and that he was going to find him.

I also suspect that Sam knows what Dean left behind and why. John once said that he wanted Dean to have a home. Sam knows that part of Dean longs for a family of his own. But Dean has always given up his own longings for the good of those around him. Which is why we get that lovely moment of Sam recognizing that Dean was always there for Sam, and thanking him.

I hope we get to see Sonny again. He was a nice addition to Dean's backstory, and one of the parts of the ep I loved was Sam discovering things about his brother. It harkens back to "Dead in the Water" or "Home," when Sam was finding out things about his brother that he never suspected before.

I just really liked the ep.

Comments

[saberivojo.livejournal.com]

There is quite a bit about this ep that bothers me but I've only seen it once. I did like it though. I think one of the things that no one seems at all shocked over - Not Sam or any of us either, that Dean was "lost" on a hunt.

C'mon. That sounds stupid. Just stupid. Was he just wandering around the woods for a month? Wouldn't Dean being "lost" cause even more red flags than Dean being sent to a boy's home?

I don't know why that leaves such a bad taste in my mouth. As I said, I only watched this once so that is just my initial impression.

Overall I enjoyed the ep, I just wish I didn't have this constant feeling that whenever we visit Sam and Dean's childhood, John ends up on the chopping block.