In the eighth episode of the second season of Supernatural, the Winchesters try to track down a group of people who made disastrous deals with a demon, but the experience affects Dean more than he expected. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Supernatural.
OH LORD, SO MUCH PAIN.
Robert Johnson
I’m intrigued by the writers choice to very literally interpret the lore surrounding Robert Johnson, who is considered to be the “master” of blues. Obviously, it holds a lot of meaning for the viewer as we see how this is a parallel for John and Dean Winchester. I never felt like the flashbacks were particularly egregious or unnecessary, either. They clearly played into the fabric of “Crossroad Blues.” Plus, it’s nice that the writers chose to use hoodoo culture and the actual people who might practice it, you know? I worry, though, about the proliferation of such myths in popular culture because they (unfortunately) contribute to a lot of racist narratives about how people of color perform well when they’re talented. By attributing their talent to devilry, as ridiculous as that may seem to many of you, is a conscious way to strip these same people of credit, of their importance to history, and of the narratives surrounding non-white cultures in the United States.
Look, Robert Johnson, even if he was not well-regarded in his time, is responsible for the vast majority of modern blues and rock n’ roll. Half the bands most of you listen to would not exist without this man. The Rolling Stones, Cream / Eric Clapton, Led Zeppelin, and Fleetwood Mac are all here on this planet because of Robert Johnson. And while I understand that this show is definitely fiction, I think we should critically engage with the reasons why we choose to retell stories as we do. Again, I don’t think anything here is done maliciously, and it’s not even that I think this is particularly offensive or anything. I more or less just wanted to open up a conversation about it.
DEAN WINCHESTER PAIN
Meanwhile, WOW, EVERYTHING HURTS. Whomever told the writers and Eric Kripke to just do what they wanted with Supernatural deserves a high five because goddamn, this season is so, so, so, so good. It’s exciting to see a show get better like this one has because while season one can be a lot of fun, it’s here that Supernatural has started to find its voice. That voice, of course, is all about how Dean, the character who spent most of season one running away from his emotions, is actually the more emotional of the two Winchester brothers. It wasn’t long into “Crossroad Blues” that I thought I knew what was going on here, but every single time I try to do that, I AM REMINDED THAT I AM UNPREPARED FOR WINCHESTER ANGST AT ALL TIMES.
Throughout this episode, Dean can hardly hide his disdain for the people he meets who all made a deal with a demon for borrowed time. They get their deepest desire, and in return, they’re given ten years to enjoy. Then, the hounds of hell come to make the person pay up. I’m actually glad that the black dogs were never actually shown on screen; the power of suggestion alone made them a lot scarier than putting them on the screen. Plus, the show would have risked them seeming silly instead of scary if they had done that. The use of sounds and those terrible claw marks was certainly more than enough. I admit that I don’t understand those two brief moments where people turned into Grudge-like entities? Was that just the demon teasing them?
Anyway, personal responsibility is a big theme in “Crossroad Blues.” Up until the point where the boys meet George Darrow, Sam feels that Dean is being a bit too crass about the situation. But in George, they meet a man who completely owns up to his decision. He knows it was a mistake, and he knows that his due has come. He doesn’t want to be saved. Sam, understandably, balks at the very suggestion. Sam’s been the one who is most gung-ho about continuing their father’s work, and his conversation at the end of the episode reinforces that. In this sense, Dean and Sam have reversed the roles they played in the first season. Sam is more willing to view and respect John Winchester as a reverential figure. (I suspect that’s in part because John guaranteed that Dean would still be around for Sam. Oh god, feelings.) It’s clear now that Dean has become the son who is more critical of his father than the other son.
However, the writers complicate this for Dean once he meets Evan Hudson, the man who summoned a demon so that he could save his dying wife. Dean had already suspected his father had made some sort of deal with the yellow-eyed demon so that his son would survive, but now that Dean’s staring at the literal cost of such a deal, he can’t fathom the very idea that his father did something like this. The man devoted his life to defeating and killing demons; why the hell would he suddenly make a deal with one? Does that invalidate all the work he did or does it just make him a complicated man? These very issues are brought to a head when, in an effort to save Evan Hudson, Dean summons the same demon who has been making deals in Lloyd’s Bar. The conversation between the demon and Dean explores the raw emotions Dean’s been keeping to himself this entire episode. (And bless Jeannette Sousa, who is ELECTRIFYING here. SO TENSE AND WONDERFUL.) The demon knew that Dean was suffering in EVERY WAKING MOMENT over the loss of his father and the possibility that his father had done something so out of character.
But it’s in the offer to bring John back that the writers call back to “Children Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things,” showing us how Dean’s own opinions on his father have changed over the past couple months. He would have been happy to let Sam believe that he was pretending with the demon the whole time, but he couldn’t even lie when Sam asked him if he’d actually considered the trade. Christ, y’all, the demon pretty much confirmed that John’s soul was in an unfathomable, inconceivable Hell. !!!!!!! Guaranteed way to destroy Dean Winchester!!!!! Oh, and we still don’t know what John whispered to Dean before he died. DAMN IT. This show is so hurt. Yes, that is an appropriate statement. ALL HURT.
The video commission for “Crossroad Blues” can be downloaded right here for just $0.99.
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