Supernatural: Time is On My Side
May. 11th, 2008 07:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
starsthatshineI've had a lot of time to contemplate 3x15 of Supernatural so therefore... a bit of musing from me ;)
Supernatural 3x15 "Time is on my side"
I really loved this episode. It deals with the general arc of the show with Dean having sold his soul to save Sam's life and how they should save him. As the expiration date of his deal comes closer, Dean begins to truly feel the stress of not wanting to have this fate that he had so desperately assigned himself while feeling that he did the right thing.
First off, the "baddie of the week" has been on Charmed, right? I don't remember what demon he was then but it was a recurring character, right? Anyway, I loved him then and I do now. He's creepy as hell. And the real close up on one of Sam's open eyes? Brrr. I think that in context, it's creepier than all the blood and stuff that Supernatural loves showing now and again.
Am I the only one liking Bela? Especially after this episode. I know that a lot of people have a... less than positive opinion about her mainly because they feel that she serves no plot purpose or whatever (or that her plot purpose is somewhat forced) but I hope that she has received more fans now after this episode because I FRICKIN' LOVED HER.
I do have a soft spot for Bela/Dean, which might be considered an "obvious" ship since they have all the silent close-ups that signifies tension but... it's nice, you know? I do think that Bela and Dean like each other, on some level, or at least respect each other but because they have different morals they throw insults at each other like others throw punches. I think I even might write a fic, which is weird for being me.
They have one thing in common and that's the deal that they both made, although for different purposes. Bela made a deal to save herself and Dean one to save Sam. I do think that in the context her choice was understandable even if the justification is somewhat debatable. I think anyone in that situation would want to kill their parents, the father for abusing them and the mother for not doing anything about it. It wasn't really a selfish act but rather one out of self-preservation, which at least I don't see as the same thing.
The same thing can be said for the doc as well, I guess, in a way, even if his preservation was based on his own desires rather than his need for preservation. This entire episode seemed to be about self-preservation I guess and I liked it.
The final scene where Bela goes to kill Sam (and Dean?) and then the phone rings sort of killed me. Not in a 'I'm going to start crying' sort of way but in an emotional one (and let's face it, it was sort of pretty in a way). I don't think it was easy for Bela to kill them, but I think she reasoned that it had to be done (I also think that's why it was so long till she started trying, if it'd been easy, she would've tried the moment she knew). She didn't want to die, just as Dean doesn't want to, but the difference is that since she's alliance-free she had more information and could actually do something about it. I don't think Dean would kill an innocent but that's because of his habit of wanting to sacrifice himself, which I think comes from another type of selfishness (depending on how you view selfishness). Think Bela has some sense of hope of getting out of her pain, misery, and that's why she's willing to fight for it (and she learned pretty early on that in order to survive you have to pay a heavy price) whereas Dean had pretty much given up everything when Sam died.
I think that Dean is a character that doesn't have an own "self" but he subjects his personality to others. Without his family, he would cease to function and therefore his own sacrifice was as much self-preservation as Bela's was. Since Dean has no clear self-image, he sees that in someway, he'll always be preserved if those he loves are preserved.
I don't know if I'm rambling or anything but I haven't studied Psychology, Film Analysis or anything so these are just my thoughts, which might also be why some phrases are not as... "smooth" as I'd like them to be.
So... well, I ship Bela/Dean (sort of, I wouldn't mind seeing them canon in a way). I think that there's a possibility that Bela might return (given that Dean actually doesn't get out of his deal which seems the most probable right now since if they did find a way out, it would be too convenient given how they've said a million times that there's no way out of it for him), but somehow, I'm still doubtful even though I think it would be fun to see her back. Oh well, I'll keep my fingers crossed.
Supernatural 3x15 "Time is on my side"
I really loved this episode. It deals with the general arc of the show with Dean having sold his soul to save Sam's life and how they should save him. As the expiration date of his deal comes closer, Dean begins to truly feel the stress of not wanting to have this fate that he had so desperately assigned himself while feeling that he did the right thing.
First off, the "baddie of the week" has been on Charmed, right? I don't remember what demon he was then but it was a recurring character, right? Anyway, I loved him then and I do now. He's creepy as hell. And the real close up on one of Sam's open eyes? Brrr. I think that in context, it's creepier than all the blood and stuff that Supernatural loves showing now and again.
Am I the only one liking Bela? Especially after this episode. I know that a lot of people have a... less than positive opinion about her mainly because they feel that she serves no plot purpose or whatever (or that her plot purpose is somewhat forced) but I hope that she has received more fans now after this episode because I FRICKIN' LOVED HER.
I do have a soft spot for Bela/Dean, which might be considered an "obvious" ship since they have all the silent close-ups that signifies tension but... it's nice, you know? I do think that Bela and Dean like each other, on some level, or at least respect each other but because they have different morals they throw insults at each other like others throw punches. I think I even might write a fic, which is weird for being me.
They have one thing in common and that's the deal that they both made, although for different purposes. Bela made a deal to save herself and Dean one to save Sam. I do think that in the context her choice was understandable even if the justification is somewhat debatable. I think anyone in that situation would want to kill their parents, the father for abusing them and the mother for not doing anything about it. It wasn't really a selfish act but rather one out of self-preservation, which at least I don't see as the same thing.
The same thing can be said for the doc as well, I guess, in a way, even if his preservation was based on his own desires rather than his need for preservation. This entire episode seemed to be about self-preservation I guess and I liked it.
The final scene where Bela goes to kill Sam (and Dean?) and then the phone rings sort of killed me. Not in a 'I'm going to start crying' sort of way but in an emotional one (and let's face it, it was sort of pretty in a way). I don't think it was easy for Bela to kill them, but I think she reasoned that it had to be done (I also think that's why it was so long till she started trying, if it'd been easy, she would've tried the moment she knew). She didn't want to die, just as Dean doesn't want to, but the difference is that since she's alliance-free she had more information and could actually do something about it. I don't think Dean would kill an innocent but that's because of his habit of wanting to sacrifice himself, which I think comes from another type of selfishness (depending on how you view selfishness). Think Bela has some sense of hope of getting out of her pain, misery, and that's why she's willing to fight for it (and she learned pretty early on that in order to survive you have to pay a heavy price) whereas Dean had pretty much given up everything when Sam died.
I think that Dean is a character that doesn't have an own "self" but he subjects his personality to others. Without his family, he would cease to function and therefore his own sacrifice was as much self-preservation as Bela's was. Since Dean has no clear self-image, he sees that in someway, he'll always be preserved if those he loves are preserved.
I don't know if I'm rambling or anything but I haven't studied Psychology, Film Analysis or anything so these are just my thoughts, which might also be why some phrases are not as... "smooth" as I'd like them to be.
So... well, I ship Bela/Dean (sort of, I wouldn't mind seeing them canon in a way). I think that there's a possibility that Bela might return (given that Dean actually doesn't get out of his deal which seems the most probable right now since if they did find a way out, it would be too convenient given how they've said a million times that there's no way out of it for him), but somehow, I'm still doubtful even though I think it would be fun to see her back. Oh well, I'll keep my fingers crossed.
no subject
Date: 2008-05-11 10:51 pm (UTC)The way that both Bela and Dean are alike but incredibly different should've definitely been explored more. Well, loads of things could've been explored more about Bela instead of making her filler in the episodes she appeared in, but thinking about it more I can definitely agree we'd been jibbed in learning more indepth about her character on the show. My initial dislike of her came where she seems to be very selfish and greedy, only creates trouble for her own gain and did nothing to help the boys. But in the way of her deal, since that was her last year as well, her behavior of "want, take, have" seems kind of jusified. When you're time is running out, wouldn't you want to do whatever you could? Her attitude was also almost similar to Dean's in that sense, when you think about it.
My problem is how her character was dealt with and written. Kripke said before that she was supposed to be the antagonist to the boys, however later on stated that he didn't want her to be all that bad. But I get the feeling they started off wanting one thing for her, but changed it around and we got nothing of anything about her deal or anything else in between. Plus her attitude with them, outsmarting them time and again and really had nothing substantial to give them until this very episode. And as I mentioned in the comment I left before in my journal, it's a pity we didn't see a full-on character exploration with her earlier on. Because I KNEW they were going to pull a backstory on her this episode and I knew it was going to be vague and make her own to be the victim, and while I could like her after the fact she did rub me the wrong way this whole season. It just bites that they had to go this direction with her.
But it does put into place everything she'd done and everything she was doing when contacting the Winchesters, stealing the Colt, etc. It pretty much sets up for Dean's deal almost being up. Being that he's totally fucked unless something miraculous happens.
Does this mean I'm going to start warming up to Bela? Probably not, but after reading your thoughts and looking over the possibilities of her character, I'd like to take a deeper look from her perspective on things and, while not in the right, does make sense.