Hi there! You've been quiet this summer as well. I was hoping to see your Salvation review on my flist at some point, but apparently you're just as motivated to write as I am.
But ... well, I still think it's shoddy and uninteresting. Don't get me wrong. I am not claiming this is a particularly good or interesting story. In fact, of all the possible narrative options the writers had at the end of S7 this is positively the worst they could have chosen. I was just tired of the accusation that Sam deliberately left Dean to rot in purgatory or did not look into his disappearance because he could not be bothered and saw his situation as a convenient way out of the life. I was also tired to read elaborate, long-winded explanations as to why Sam did not look for Dean that have little hold in the few facts that S8 canon actually gave us. In the end, I tried to find the version of Sam's story that was compliant with S8 canon and at least resembled a sensible Sam characterisation. Also, at the beginning of S8, I vehemently argued against the possibility that Sam believed Dean to be dead, so this is a kind of retroactive retraction.
In Supernatural, saying someone is dead isn't very enlightening. They might be in heaven, hell or purgatory. Their souls might have been obliterated entirely. They might be a ghost. Well, as far as we know, purgatory is not actually a destination for human souls after their death. It's strictly reserved for monsters. Dean being sucked into purgatory was a one-time event in the history of earth, and the fact that he was alive and human was the reason why he could leave purgatory in the first place. He did not belong there. Sam could not have assumed that Dean's death had released his soul to purgatory. I daresay that, after Bobby, Sam had very good reason to believe that Dean would not have opted to become a ghost, and he had no reason to believe Dean would go to hell. So, from Sam's perspective, obliteration due to the explosion or heaven were the only two options in Dean's case.
I don't understand why 'dead' is suddenly an answer. I'd say the term 'dead' is to be interpreted in the simplest possible way, namely as opposed to 'alive'. Dean physically died when he was ripped to shreds by the hellhounds, he (almost) physically died when he was electrocuted, he also physically died when he was shot in Dark Side of the Moon. But he did not die when he was pulled into purgatory. He was simply spatially displaced, just like he was temporally displaced in Time After Time. Bringing Dean back from the dead is against the natural order, Death made that very clear. Bringing Dean back from purgatory, however, is not. Given the Winchesters' history, Sam could not risk going against the natural order, again, and had to accept that Dean was lost to him, no matter if he thought heaven was a particularly peaceful place for Dean's soul or not. So, 'dead' is an answer because it gives Sam a reasonable motivation not to try anything to resurrect Dean. Had he know that Dean was actually alive, he would have taken steps to bring him home. :)
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But ... well, I still think it's shoddy and uninteresting.
Don't get me wrong. I am not claiming this is a particularly good or interesting story. In fact, of all the possible narrative options the writers had at the end of S7 this is positively the worst they could have chosen. I was just tired of the accusation that Sam deliberately left Dean to rot in purgatory or did not look into his disappearance because he could not be bothered and saw his situation as a convenient way out of the life. I was also tired to read elaborate, long-winded explanations as to why Sam did not look for Dean that have little hold in the few facts that S8 canon actually gave us. In the end, I tried to find the version of Sam's story that was compliant with S8 canon and at least resembled a sensible Sam characterisation. Also, at the beginning of S8, I vehemently argued against the possibility that Sam believed Dean to be dead, so this is a kind of retroactive retraction.
In Supernatural, saying someone is dead isn't very enlightening. They might be in heaven, hell or purgatory. Their souls might have been obliterated entirely. They might be a ghost.
Well, as far as we know, purgatory is not actually a destination for human souls after their death. It's strictly reserved for monsters. Dean being sucked into purgatory was a one-time event in the history of earth, and the fact that he was alive and human was the reason why he could leave purgatory in the first place. He did not belong there. Sam could not have assumed that Dean's death had released his soul to purgatory. I daresay that, after Bobby, Sam had very good reason to believe that Dean would not have opted to become a ghost, and he had no reason to believe Dean would go to hell. So, from Sam's perspective, obliteration due to the explosion or heaven were the only two options in Dean's case.
I don't understand why 'dead' is suddenly an answer.
I'd say the term 'dead' is to be interpreted in the simplest possible way, namely as opposed to 'alive'. Dean physically died when he was ripped to shreds by the hellhounds, he (almost) physically died when he was electrocuted, he also physically died when he was shot in Dark Side of the Moon. But he did not die when he was pulled into purgatory. He was simply spatially displaced, just like he was temporally displaced in Time After Time. Bringing Dean back from the dead is against the natural order, Death made that very clear. Bringing Dean back from purgatory, however, is not. Given the Winchesters' history, Sam could not risk going against the natural order, again, and had to accept that Dean was lost to him, no matter if he thought heaven was a particularly peaceful place for Dean's soul or not. So, 'dead' is an answer because it gives Sam a reasonable motivation not to try anything to resurrect Dean. Had he know that Dean was actually alive, he would have taken steps to bring him home. :)