pocketsized-prophet reblogged
breaking my silence. i think lebanon is good. i know what it’s trying to do, which is put the “is john winchester problematic?” question to bed by saying no. he’s a dad. which is complicated and lovable <3 but so much of the show has punched so many holes in that theory that TO ME the face value falls apart. here’s the way i’ve kaleidoscoped it which, again, is not what was intended, but to me, is the path of least narrative resistance:
- dean wishes for his heart’s desire and doesn’t know the mechanics of how it’ll work
- this brings his dad back
- this is not what sam or dean thought that dean was consciously wishing for
- the john winchester who appears acts a few degrees removed from the s1 - s9 characterization in a much more palatable way (effusive with praise, contrite over his mistakes)
- game theory: dean’s desire was NOT to have his dad back but to have a sense of closure with his dad, because he never got that. and that’s what he gets. now his last memory of his dad isn’t being told to kill his brother before realizing that his dad’s just traded their lives, it’s a family dinner he never ever had and always fantasized about. it’s literally a what is and what should never be redux.
- 3 episodes ago do we remember 3 episodes ago. where michael dredged up all of dean’s deep dark resentments against his family that he’s ashamed of feeling (cas, jack, sam). john 100% makes the resentment list. so does mary! dean’s said as much at various times. but dean’s had his Resentment Closure moment with cas. and jack. and sam. and mary. he’s never had that with john. but in lebanon? his dad says i’m proud of you. his dad says i made mistakes. his dad says i didn’t want you to have to live like me. his dad says all these things that dean’s wanted to hear but never has, and his dad sits down for a family dinner that dean’s always wanted but has never got. but in the end this is what is and what should never be 2. it’s a fantasy. it HAS to come apart at the seams. it’s not attainable long term.
- tldr. pearl gives heart’s desire. sam thinks heart desire is no michael. dean think heart desire is having his dad back. true heart desire is to be able to bookend his dad’s memory with something happy that’ll allow him to continue to fudge the numbers into his dad being a relatively uncomplicated figure. the pearl mia vallens his dad so dean can see him one last time and hear him say all the things he never did before leaving again. THAT is what dean wants more deeply than anything. closure.
