I always think that DitW shows how fine-tuned JA has been to his character even back then Mmmm. JA has Dean down, right from the start.
My favourite moment in the episode is the look Sam gives Dean when he stands in the doorframe, watching Dean taking to Lucas about his mother. That moment of dawning on Sam's face, suddenly seeing his brother with completely new eyes ... that always gets to me. Me too. I think ryo_girl put it nicely in her comment - it's the moment Sam starts to see Dean as a man rather than just a brother. He went away a rebellious teenager, and since he came back has been too wrapped up in his own issues to notice that Dean has issues of his own. He's so used to the story of Mary's death as just that, a story, I don't think he's ever really been able to comprehend what it meant to his Dad and brother. Even after experiencing Jessica's death, he still hadn't made the connection, being so lost in his own grief. But this is where he starts to join the dots, where he begins to understand on a deeper level just what an impact it had on Dean. Not just a story, but a massive, dislocating trauma.
I love the the swing in Dean's approach to Andrea as soon as he realises the tragedy that hit her. He does the exact same thing in The Kids Are Alright, where he switches from flirting with Lisa to caring concern the instance he meets her as a mother, all thoughts of 'gumby girl' gone. I really love that about Dean. So do I. Why do we even talk? We always agree on almost everything! He draws such a definite distinction between women who are and aren't available for casual flirtation (or more). It's funny - I was trying to think of an occasion when Dean has got involved with a woman who has had anything to do with a case (Cassie aside, because of the history) and I'm coming up blank. He's encouraged Sam to get involved more than once. But he keeps his own dalliances as far away from the job as he possibly can. I wondered if that might be a Cassie thing, because he told her the truth and she rejected him, but someone involved with a case would have that much more of an open mind, so no. But I do think Cassie feeds into that inclination. He's such a mass of contradictions, craving human connection at the same time as being terrified of it. Is afraid of letting people get too close, because the people he is close to have a bad habit of running out on him. And I think that has a lot to do with why he likes to keep business and pleasure strictly separate. With girls he picks up in a bar it's very clear cut, and they all know where they stand from the start. One night, no strings. Get involved with someone on a job, someone who knows the truth, and you're already introducing a greater element of intimacy and complication right from the start, and he simply won't go there. That's my current reading of it, anyway.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2008-01-29 09:47 am (UTC)Mmmm. JA has Dean down, right from the start.
My favourite moment in the episode is the look Sam gives Dean when he stands in the doorframe, watching Dean taking to Lucas about his mother. That moment of dawning on Sam's face, suddenly seeing his brother with completely new eyes ... that always gets to me.
Me too. I think
I love the the swing in Dean's approach to Andrea as soon as he realises the tragedy that hit her. He does the exact same thing in The Kids Are Alright, where he switches from flirting with Lisa to caring concern the instance he meets her as a mother, all thoughts of 'gumby girl' gone. I really love that about Dean.
So do I. Why do we even talk? We always agree on almost everything! He draws such a definite distinction between women who are and aren't available for casual flirtation (or more). It's funny - I was trying to think of an occasion when Dean has got involved with a woman who has had anything to do with a case (Cassie aside, because of the history) and I'm coming up blank. He's encouraged Sam to get involved more than once. But he keeps his own dalliances as far away from the job as he possibly can. I wondered if that might be a Cassie thing, because he told her the truth and she rejected him, but someone involved with a case would have that much more of an open mind, so no. But I do think Cassie feeds into that inclination. He's such a mass of contradictions, craving human connection at the same time as being terrified of it. Is afraid of letting people get too close, because the people he is close to have a bad habit of running out on him. And I think that has a lot to do with why he likes to keep business and pleasure strictly separate. With girls he picks up in a bar it's very clear cut, and they all know where they stand from the start. One night, no strings. Get involved with someone on a job, someone who knows the truth, and you're already introducing a greater element of intimacy and complication right from the start, and he simply won't go there. That's my current reading of it, anyway.