fannishliss

hi friends!
please engage with me on the subject of anvils.

I thought last night's ep was very sad with Ed going off the rails and totally faking a monster with a raft of dead as consequences.

For my part, I sympathized with Ed creating the Thin Man, but it was pretty gruesome of him to continue to capitalize on it after the girl was killed.

Also, I very much sympathize with Harry.  Ed created Thin Man because, at the core, he didn't have faith in their friendship without Ghostfacers tying them together.  Creating Thin Man was making Harry a chump because Ghostfacers was always about finding the real ghosts and facing them -- but Ed made it all up, a totally fake monster, yet still encouraged Harry to "face" it -- completely undermining what Ghostfacers stood for.

More horribly, now Harry has killed a man to save Ed's life, and he can never not pull that trigger.  So the Thin Man myth created by Ed and perpetuated by Ed and Harry and their bogus book results in five people dead: girl, sheriff, boss, and both psychos.

okay, so, anvils:
Does the Ed and Harry situation really parallel the Sam and Dean situation?

To me, no. Of course there is the obvious parallel of the estrangement and the unforgivable betrayal.  But narratively, to me, the comparison works to show Sam that Dean's betrayal is actually far more understandable than Ed's.

Watching, I think Jared did a great job trying to show Sam being kind to Harry, and also, clearly that Sam as a character is aware of the anvil he is dodging.

To me the parallel and what it was telling Sam (as I watched) was this:  Gosh, Ed really screwed up.  This was a stupid thing he did, lying to Harry because he just wanted to keep Ghostfacers going.  Harry will need to decide if he can forgive.  It kind of puts what Dean did in perspective, doesn't it.    Was it just me, or did anyone else see Sam think this?
(I realize I'm in the minority of viewers who watch Sam not for what he says but for what he is thinking. Jared to me is amazing at acting without words so that we can see his motivations.  Kudos, Jared!!)

What I'm getting at is this: narratively, the Ghostfacers are silly.  Their job as Supernaturalists is self-aggrandizing, thrill-seeking, and shallow.  They are not out there like Hunters trying to save lives.  And actually, what they do is pretty gruesome, capitalizing on tragic deaths.  But Sam and Dean not only have to try and save lives, they are fighting a war every day, a war that puts them in the (psychologically damaging) position of making life and death calls-- let a psycho live? or deflect the blade so that he dies on it.  Exorcise a demon, that might come back?  Or kill the host, destroying the demon.  Let your brother go to his Heavenly reward?  Or ally with an Angel in hopes that everything will work out.  Always, ALWAYS, they are between a rock and a hard place, and they have to make the unclean/heroic choice, which is why I love this show more than any show in the history of ever.

This episode, as a narrative, was pretty cool in this way: it didn't force the viewer to judge Dean.  Instead, the ep had Sam ask the question, was what he did unforgivable?  In my opinion, we see Sam asking this question of himself.

We saw Sam remember the past with Dean as good times (to me that was a little forced, and Dean knew it, but he's not above using a cheap tactic if it might win Sam back) and we saw Sam hit hard by Harry's image of only one rocking chair in the end.  ;_:  And, we saw Sam terrified for Dean's safety.  (Me too!  I was convinced they were going to kill Dean right there, and Sam was going to have to bring him back, because, impervious veil!!!).  So, to me, it looks like Sam might be reconsidering if he should forgive?

In a way, I think forgiveness is not what's called for right now. What's really called for is better communication and deeper understanding.   The way Dean puts Sam's life first above everything is a real issue they need to work though, it can't just be forgiven and swept under the rug -- something has to change, either in Dean's way of putting Sam on a pedestal, or in Sam's way of understanding Dean's priorities.

So, for me, it was an effective use of anvils. The parallel was obvious, but it becomes less of a parallel the more you dig into it, which is why it works.  Right?