#remember when dean used to pray #like he was prank calling somebody #and he waved his hands around #like he had no idea what to do with them #and made all these strange faces #and exaggerated the entire ordeal #so he looked really silly #and we all laughed #because it was funny #ha #hahaha #not so funny anymore is it #when a man prays with his head bowed and his hands clasped with tears in his eyes #remember when prayer was a joke (via leatherandlightning)
# The Most Romantic And Heartbreaking Character Development Ever
First, I’d like to point out that as soon as I read the TV Guide interview with DJ, I somehow knew that they’d be tap dancing. (Or juggling, I thought that was the other likely possibility)
I’m always SHOCKED when I’m right about anything like this, so it occurred to me to wonder, why had that possibility leapt to mind with such clarity?
What’s the cultural meaning of “tap dancing?” What’s the metaphor here?
A secondary meaning of “tap dance” is “a statement or action meant to evade or distract attention from a concern, question, etc.”
Hm. Yes, there’s something the show (and Dean) has been dancing around for years, that’s for sure.
And then, to underscore how odd this all is… Garth disappears and Dean dances with a LAMP. Not just any lamp, but one with a nice, obvious, large SHADE.
Lampshading is, according to TV Tropes, “the writers’ trick of dealing with any element of the story that
threatens the audience’s Willing Suspension of Disbelief, whether a very
implausible plot development, or a particularly blatant use of a trope,
by calling attention to it and simply moving on.” It’s a deliberate WINK at the audience. “Hey, we know what we’re doing, it’s a little hokey and tired but at least we’re acknowledging it!”
They’re DRAWING ATTENTION, through a romantic trope, to something that Dean and the show itself have been tap dancing around for years, ie: something they’ve been evading and distracting attention from.
And then of course, Dean TAP DANCES ON THE TABLE…. the very table that has separated him and Cas for most of this season, visually.
HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM.
Oh and then also…. at the end… Dean’s like…. I bet I’d be a good dancer, you know, if I wanted to.
* SCREAMING *
Reblogging again because we are all chatting, and were conveniently reminded that “Let’s Misbehave” is a song by Cole “Extravagant Bisexual” Porter.
Before we get into the Sam Knows meta I promised you all…it was just really nice to have a funny episode that wasn’t like weirdly offensive or sad or ended horribly, this was just a bumbling episode that, while still connected to the main plot, was sort of a one off. Garth is such a gift, it was so great to be able to see him thriving, and it was absolutely hilarious to see the boys be normal. And that tap number??????? Hello???????
Aight, let’s get into it.
Ok listen. Y’all know I’ve talked a lot about what Sam knows (here and here), or how fucking obvious it is that he knows, whatever, but there was something in this episode that could be seen as throwaway, but I think Dabb is too smart for that.
So, like, he obviously draws attention to the fact that one twin’s name is Sam and the other one is named Cas (aka NOT named Dean), which is super funny, Dean’s face was great in that scene, but to me, it put everyone’s eyes on Garth’s twins, kinda made them the focal point when they were onscreen, and if there’s no reason to do that, why bother?
I’ve said time and time again that Andrew Dabb is one of the most detailed oriented writers in the room, and it shows with how many plotlines he’s able to seamlessly tie together throughout a season as a showrunner, but he does it as a standalone writer as well, which is why he’s always been so good at writing young Sam and Dean, he takes the time to put in little details with their characters as boys that makes sense with their characters as men. He doesn’t do things on accident, or do things just to throw them away, especially not now, when we’re ten episodes away from the actual end of the show, and he is the showrunner. Everything has a purpose. Everything means something, as Rowena might say.
So, we get to the end of the episode, everyone lives, Sam and Dean are still very much “normal” and Garth is the one who went on the hero’s journey. Sam and Dean end up holding the twins, Sam holding his namesake, being as cute as can be, and Dean just sorta stares at baby Cas, and then we get the line:
“This Cas keeps looking at me weird.”
“So, kinda like the real Cas.”
Okay yeah, ha ha, Cas looks at people weird. But….no…let’s think about it…why would Sam say that? Why would he say that Cas looks at Dean weird, when they make jokes about Cas (which, to be honest, they haven’t done in years) it was always along the lines of oh Cas is just a weird guy, that’s just how Cas is, whatever, but this was specifically, singularly, directed at Dean. Cas looks at Dean, and Dean alone, weird. Hm. Much to think about.
Why put that line there? Why? This episode isn’t about Cas, but he’s still there, Garth named one of his kids after him, instead of Dean, and then Dean draws attention to the fact that, obviously, this baby is not Cas. Once again, Cas occupies the negative space of the episode so it constantly feels like he’s missing.
Listen, we can argue semantics and what that line is supposed to mean all day long, but for real, even when he’s not there Cas is included, he’s thought about, discussed, a part of the family.
Details are important in any show’s finale season, but I feel like they’re especially important for a showrunner like Andrew Dabb, almost all of his core writers thrive on details, on drawing attention to little things that end up being bigger plot points later, and this little, throwaway line from Sam? Doesn’t feel so little to me, especially with Cas mentioned in the background, drawing attention, once again to the fact that he’s not there, that he should be there, that they’re separated.
In my opinion, Sam had known ~something~ for years, we’ve always had those little moments of too-long looks between Dean and Cas, Sam awkwardly clearing his throat, loudly entering the room, lest we ever forget the iconic “And you’re gonna storm in riiiiight now.” Sam isn’t an idiot, and he’s not blind either, but I think this might be the first time that he’s actually addressed it, and in a way where there isn’t much room to interpret. It’s just an accepted part of life for Sam, that Dean and Cas look at each other weird, that he sometimes needs to remind them that he’s in the room, that their looks are long and sometimes awkward for him. I mean……how much more clear does it need to be?
And to have this right after the completely unresolved prayer thing? We don’t even know what happened after that, but we’d be fools to assume that it’s all resolved. I saw a post, and, apologies, I can’t credit bc I can’t seem to find the original post, where the poster was saying that there’s no way the DeanCas tension is resolved. We’re halfway through the season, and even though Cas said “I heard your prayer,” there’s no way this almost full season conflict is over ten episodes before the end.
Once again, Dean and Cas are the focal point, even in details, and it’s not something that we should discount.
Okay so anyway, to that whole dream sequence thing:
The song “Let’s Misbehave” was created by Cole Porter in 1927. Cole Porter was a bisexual man, and you can read more about him here, but also just Googling and seeing a bunch of historical articles written on him.
The scene showed Dean tap dancing, and tap dancing in films was most popular around the 1930s. In 1935, the Hays Code was passed. Moral censorship basically in films. You can read more about it here. There’s a lot of stuff in there on sexuality and marriage and “good lifestyles” and whatever the fuck. Basically: Censorship.
He’s tap dancing– seen symbolically as avoiding addressing something directly.
There’s a lamp with like, you know, a shade: Lampshading can be seen as an annoying storytelling thing, but in this case, I view Dabb as making fun of lampshading while also addressing it head on. Here’s what TV Tropes has to say: Lampshade Hanging (or, more informally, “Lampshading”) is the writers’ trick of dealing with any element of the story that threatens the audience’s Willing Suspension of Disbelief, whether a very implausible plot development or a particularly blatant use of a trope, by calling attention to it and simply moving on.
Basically: Talking with @obsessionisaperfume and @oceaxe-ifdawn on this, basically, it’s Dabb being super meta on Dean’s sexuality thing for us, to us, while making fun and making a serious case out of it. I’m choosing to see it as him writing to us this sentiment essentially: Dean would be dreaming about getting fucked on the map table right now by Cas but we can’t ever show you that, so here’s the meta on that.
But, I think it was him discussing censorship issues over the years, and I, and others, think it was Dabb making Dean take a look outside of the closet. Just given the writing this season, the fact they already know the ending and therefore are writing for the ending, and how much of a focus they put on their relationship this season–yeah it’s… it’s optimistic in my eyes.
Any other thoughts or ideas? This isn’t usually my area of discussion (like how deep and meta-y it gets) but I found the whole thing super fascinating.
