On further review: More thoughts about 11.11

[caranfindel]

Some thinky thoughts about "Into the Mystic."

galwithglasses is so much better at the color-related meta, but I'm going to jump into this anyway.

The first time I watched "Into the Mystic," I mistakenly thought Sam was wearing the same shirt in the two bunker scenes - at the beginning of the episode, and at the end. Which seemed kind of lazy, like they'd shot all those scenes together and hadn't bothered to change Sam's shirt. But given the way they treat wardrobe changes (they make no sense!), it wasn't surprising. However, now I see I was wrong. Sam's wearing two completely different, very bold red-and-blue plaid shirts.

And I don't really care for either one of them. Can we have that black v-neck t-shirt back?

And while we're checking out Sam's wardrobe, take a look at his blue-and-red tie.

(Also of note... his adorable face.)

Red, white, and blue have always been the symbolic colors of Team Free Will, and Sam is drenched in them throughout this episode. Dean, on the other hand, is wearing shades of gray, without even a white shirt. No, I don't mean 50 shades, though I can't blame you if your mind goes in that direction.

Nope. I really can't.

He's wearing the gray "dead guy robe" at the beginning of the episode, and gray/black at the end. What does all of this mean? It's hard not to interpret it as Dean being pulled away from TFW, while Sam is aggressively flying its colors. (Sam told Dean the truth, eventually, about not being okay. Dean continues to lie to Sam about his tie to Amara. Coincidence?)

The other color that's used pretty heavily in this episode is green. Often used as a sign of danger (think of the Stynes' green-tiled operating room), green seems to be surrounding Sam in this episode, from the laundry room to Mildred's apartment. (And it's interesting to me that we don't see Dean at Mildred's apartment until the light has changed and the walls are no longer obviously green. Coincidence?)

I'm green too. With envy. Stupid Mildred.

Even Eileen is dressed in green when we first meet her, and when we last see her.

Note Dean's black and gray ensemble, while Sam and Eileen are in green.

Does it mean Sam's in danger? Eileen's in danger? Eileen is danger?

And speaking of Eileen, let's look again at her parallels to Sam. Her mother killed when she was an infant, bloody over her crib. Raised to be a hunter, though her grandfather was a Man of Letters. Considered being a lawyer, but decided hunting is her life. The last time I remember seeing such an obvious parallel was last season, in Paint it Black, when there was a book written by someone who liked to use her own blood as media. Dean told Sam to destroy it, but he didn't, because he thought it could be used to save Dean. And then the same thing happened again, with the Book of the Damned. So, is something from this episode going to come up again? Or am I looking for things that aren't there? Is Eileen supposed to symbolize Sam, and if so, in what way? Is he going to have to hunt alone? (Nope, let's forget I said that.) Lose his hearing? Move to a different country while pursuing a monster who destroyed his family?

Furthermore, there's the issue of Eileen's deafness. Personally, I think it's very unlikely that The Powers That Be created a deaf character just so their characters would mirror actual society. Bobby wasn't paralyzed just because people are paralyzed sometimes; it was a plot device. Charlie wasn't gay just because 10% of the population is gay; she was gay so there wouldn't be romantic issues with the brothers. (Not that being gay is a disability. It's only similar because it's another example of People Who Don't Normally Show Up on TV.) No, I think Eileen is there for a reason, and so is her disability. Hunting without being able to hear would be extremely difficult, but there are also times it would be a benefit. I have a feeling this is going to come up again. And why is she Irish? Rowena was Scottish and it turned out there was a damn good reason. Is Eileen's Irish birth going to come up again too?

Or was this all just an excuse to post more Winchester picspam?

What do you think?

Comments

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

I don't think, therefore I am. Oh wait, I got that wrong, didn't I?

[caranfindel.livejournal.com]

You are not. :-)

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

I am confused now. Bwhahaha!

[caranfindel.livejournal.com]

I think, therefore I am. You do not think, therefore you are not. ;-)

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

Ah yes. Curse you for making me exist. LOL

[anactoria.livejournal.com]

I think Eileen is there for a reason, and so is her disability. Hunting without being able to hear would be extremely difficult, but there are also times it would be a benefit. I have a feeling this is going to come up again.

Well, she was great, so I'm definitely hoping she comes back! I'm betting if it does come up, it will give her immunity to some kind of monster that lures/hypnotizes people via its voice -- like a siren, though I guess not actually a siren, because SPN's already done those and they don't sing at people, they just flirt with Dean. And the episode did start with Sam unable to get a monster's words out of his head...

[caranfindel.livejournal.com]

Yes! Wouldn't it be awesome if a hearing disability actually gave her an advantage!

[mdlaw.livejournal.com]

Uh what? Did you ask a question? I was distracted by the pretty. m :)

[caranfindel.livejournal.com]

Then my work here is done!

[galwithglasses.livejournal.com]

This is an irresistible post for me to comment on, you know? It's interesting about Sam and the green because it's not a color he wears with the FBI suits very often but he has it on when they first get there. At that point Dean has a red and blue tie on.



The other time that Dean wears red is at the cemetery and Sam has a fair amount of green then too. He's also cleaning his gun on a big green cloth when he can't sleep at the beginning.



I think Sam spends a lot of the episode coming to terms with moving on from Lucifer again as well as some other painful parts of his life. He's also moving toward having some freedom about how he wants his life to go. By the end of the episode, he's even thinking about growing old and retiring.

Dean has been wearing a lot of grey and black and I think it has a lot to do with the Darkness. I don't think he has a lot of free will when it comes to her.



An interesting thing to me is that in your last cap, it's Mildred who has the TFW red and blue.

As for Ailene, she's marked as either a victim or the monster right from the very beginning with pink and flowers. She's dressed a lot like the baby that grew up to be the darkness who was also a victim.



At the end, she has a green jacket on that reminds me a lot of Charlie. She's got that red hair too.

Awesome post!

[caranfindel.livejournal.com]

You did the thing and made it better! \o/

[madebyme-x.livejournal.com]

I hope that we see Eileen again, and that maybe they do have a reason for mirroring her with Sam so much. Maybe he's going to reach out to her when he's left all alone, because I can see that happening; Dean goes off with Darkness, and there's Cas and Lucifer, which leaves no TFW. I also can't help but wonder if Eileen's sort of a Charlie replacement (redish hair, and that green jacket looks like it's Charlie's), but they're linking her more with Sam this time? Maybe Robbie the writer wanted to 'fix' Charlie's loss for us? He does have a history of that now.

[caranfindel.livejournal.com]

She can't be that awesome and that special for no reason.