In the fourth episode of the seventh season of Supernatural, help. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Supernatural.
Trigger Warning: For suicidal thoughts, death.
I think there are a number of things this episode does incredibly well, and they’re all things that could have gone so badly. LET’S DISCUSS.
Osiris
Given that Hollywood has a propensity for making ancient Egypt look like… well, very, very white, I was SO HAPPY that Supernatural cast someone who could ostensibly have been Osiris. That terrible Ridley Scott movie, Exodus: Gods and Kings was on my mind, since it’s the most recent example of whitewashing of history. So YAY TO THIS SHOW FOR DOING SOMETHING… that should be pretty basic. OKAY, I’m not saying that this elevates Supernatural into the realm of perfection, but you know what? Props where it’s due.
And goddamn, Osiris’s characterization is SO GOOD. Faran Tahir plays Osiris as largely disinterested in any gimmick that humans can throw at him, and so it really makes it feel like he’s been doing this for a long time. He’s amused at how Sam and Dean try as hard as possible to squirm away from him, he’s used to brutality, and he’s isn’t remotely interested in whether or not a person became better. It’s all about guilt.
Dean, Guilt, and Life
I find it very bold for this show to address Dean’s complicity in certain aspects of his past, and I was actually expecting the writers to let him off the hook in some one. As I’ve mentioned many times, Supernatural largely takes place through Dean’s eyes, and that means that, at some points, the narrative is a lot more forgiving of him than it is of Sam. We’ve seen that happen time and again, particularly when it comes to issues of honesty. There is, to put it simply, sometimes a lack of accountability on his part, though I’d say the Winchesters in general get away with a lot of shit that’s unaddressed.
But “Defending Your Life” turns our gaze to so many uncomfortable moments in Dean’s life, and the narrative refuses to let us turn away. Of course, we can’t ignore that the previous episode, “The Girl Next Door,” is going to have horrifying implications on the current state of things. But when Osiris begins to measure Dean’s guilt, he does so by bringing in one of the easiest ways to manipulate Dean Winchester.
Jo Harvelle.
Look, I’m still bitter about Jo and Ellen, but I feel a whole lot better about Jo’s usage here than Ellen’s usage last season. One of the most impressive things about “Defending Your Life” is that Jo is truly here. This is not an image of her or an imagined, parallel copy of her; as far as we know, this is the actual essence of her spirit or her person, and that’s made clear by the way in which she constantly fights against Osiris. In this sense, the show respects that she has agency as a person, even if she’s a dead person. She is brought back to this world, fully aware that Osiris is trying to use her to make Dean feel guilt. And by gods, she tries not to blame Dean for what happened to her! I don’t think this would have been as compelling if it was like… well, Mary Winchester last season. This was not a warped replication of Jo, and so that made her interactions with Dean so much more meaningful to me as a viewer and to Dean. She wasn’t a trick.
Neither was Sam, and I think it’s significant that both of Dean’s witnesses were very much real. It then shows us how real Dean’s reaction is. And that is important, too, because there’s a sense of validation to Dean’s… depression? Loss of will to live? The show hasn’t outright defined what he’s going through, but I noticed at one point that Dean seemed strangely uninterested in a case that was like the good ‘ol days. Sure, it’s also important that Dean tries to reject interest in the case because of his own sense of morality. I don’t want to ignore that, since we have to be shown that he doesn’t believe that people can change.
Why is that so vital to this story? Because we have to have this context so we understand why Dean feels that he himself cannot change. We see him struggle with his sense of guilt for Jo and for Sam, and we know that he’s quietly distraught over his betrayal of Sam and Amy in the previous episode. The events in “Defending Your Life,” I’m guessing, show Dean that he has repeatedly let down people in his life. He has repeatedly pulled them into his chaos and violence because he cannot cope with the life of a hunter alone, and he’d rather cause harm to someone else than do this by himself. Whether that’s actually true or not isn’t even really the point. (I think that the writers do a fine job of demonstrating that both Sam and Jo have their own take on getting involved with hunting that doesn’t revolve around Dean. That’s incredibly important for their characters.) The point here is that what happens in this episode gives Dean a new perspective on his own life, and he believes. He believes that his guilt is justified, that he deserves to feel awful, and that he deserves death. Real, true death that he doesn’t come back from.
I believe that if Sam had not saved his brother’s life (WHAT DID SAM SAY TO THAT RABBI TO GET THAT RAM’S HORN), Dean would have allowed himself to be killed. I think that the closing scene supports this theory of mine because he’s so shocked that Sam is coping with the trauma that he’s gone through. And it’s so fucking heartbreaking to watch because Sam has been through an unending nightmare, and it’s almost inconceivable that he’s found a way to move on. This is happening while his big brother is realizing that he doesn’t know how to move on anymore. They’re no longer on parallel journeys, and I feel like Dean is convinced that he’s truly alone now.
This episode does not let Dean off the hook; indeed, the writers have taken him in a direction that openly acknowledges his past. It’s incredibly sad to see this (SO MANY TEARS HOLY SHIT), but I found it to be one of the more compelling things this show has done with its main characters. There’s a lot of potential here, and I’m comforted that the show isn’t trying to invalidate what either brother is feeling here. It’s complicated shit, and there’s a sense of respect to Dean’s… well, whatever it is. I don’t want to define it as depression or suicidal ideation just yet because I feel like that’s something Dean needs to define himself. Still… what a goddamn great episode, y’all.
The video for “Defending Your Life” can be downloaded here for $0.99.
Mark Links Stuff
– Mark Does Stuff is now on Facebook! Feel free to Like the page, which I’m running myself, for updates and SILLINESS.
– My older sister needs help with her transition, so I’ve agreed to read all of Fifty Shades of Grey on YouTube if we can help her reach her goal!
– If you would like to support this website and keep Mark Does Stuff running, I’ve put up a detailed post explaining how you can!
– Please check out the MarkDoesStuff.com. All Mark Watches videos for past shows/season are now archived there!
– My Master Schedule is updated for the near and distant future for most projects, so please check it often. My next three Double Features are now in the schedule! I will be watching In the Flesh, The Sarah Connor Chronicles (complete with Terminator liveblogs!), and then Leverage. Commission away!
– I will be at quite a few conventions and will be hosting events throughout 2014, so check my Tour Dates / Appearances page often to see if I’m coming to your city! I have an event in Detroit at the University of Michigan on November 12th!!!
