In the thirteenth episode of the ninth season of Supernatural, this is a mess. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Supernatural.
Trigger Warning: For talk of fatphobia, weight loss, body image, anti-Romani sentiment.
Wow, this is episode is just not really good at all. A few cute moments, a gut-wrenching closer, and then just a mish-mash of a thousand ideas, none of which go with another. Just… what? What is this episode?
Weight Loss
This show has not really treated fat people well, and this episode doesn’t either. They’re a visual punchline. We’re meant to be disgusted by their bodies before they’re attacked and then after them. There’s almost no sympathy or nuance here. There’s a scene where Sheriff Hanscum is given a shred of dignity and characterization, but it’s not nearly enough to combat the unbelievable onslaught against fat people that’s on display here. I’m a big guy and I have been for a long time. While I’m not personally comfortable with the “fat†label, I’ve struggled with body image issues and dysmorphia for as long as I can remember. This episode did not make me feel better about myself. There was no hope or light at the end of the tunnel, nothing that gave the appearance that fatness was anything other than a plot point or a visual gag.
It sucks. A lot. I don’t need a show like this to suddenly become some sort of body positivity vehicle, but I’d like to watch the show and not feel this terrible. It’s so bad, y’all.
Mala
Okay, y’all: stop saying the g***y slur. Stop writing stories where these characters are liars or thieves or cheats or constantly deceiving everyone around them. Abandon them, never return to them, and do some research on how Romani people are treated around the world. Figure out why the jokes and statements made in this episode are so atrocious. STOP DOING THIS.
Growth
So, let me say that I understand that it’s not easy to hear something as brutal as what Sam told Dean at the end of “Sharp Teeth.†For someone like Dean, who values family more than anything, it clearly stung for him to hear Sam question their relationship as brothers. Dean would never have questioned such a thing. Ever. On some level, then, I understand his reaction to Sam. It’s awkward and uncomfortable, and he lashes out because of it.
I think that it’s also so frustrating that after nine years, this show is still sticking to the characterization that Dean cannot deal with feelings at all, ever, for any reason. So much of his attitude here stems from a dislike for any sort of emotion because it’s not manly. Which… I don’t even need to address why that’s a goddamn mess. But you’d think that he would try to take his brother seriously, even for a little bit. Instead, he throws Sam’s honesty in his face; he pokes fun at the “purging†process the two are going through; and he doesn’t make an attempt to faithfully understand what it is that Sam’s going. So I wasn’t surprised that, in the final scene, Sam is brutal about how he feels towards Dean. It’s… christ. It’s truly heartbreaking. I know that at the root of this, Sam wants to be trusted. He wants his perspective to be validated.
That’s understandably difficult in the context of Sam’s life. I get Dean wanting to save his brother and keep him around. I get anyone wanting to save their loved ones. But Sam knows that his own desires – specifically, his desire to die at the start of this season – was not respected by Dean. That was compounded by Dean’s further choice to stick Gadreel inside of him without asking, and I think that is why Sam is certain that he and Dean are not on the same page. If the situation were reversed, and Sam had the option to save Dean if Dean wanted to die?
He would not have saved him.
LIKE, HOLY SHIT, WHAT IS THIS SHOW DOING WITH THESE TWO. I think this is the absolute worst state of their relationship like… ever??? Good lord. I wish I could say I was interested by the rest of this episode, but alas, that’s not the case. But could we see some growth from Dean? And what about that Mark of Cain? Does it not do anything?
The video for “The Purge†can be downloaded here for $0.99.
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