Review for 2x11 'Playthings'
Jan. 20th, 2007 12:17 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
galatheaSo, new episode, new review! It's not as long-winded as usual, because Matt Witt's Playthings was more of a solid stand-alone episode with only minimal development for the overall arc. Still, it provides at least a crucial progress in the brotherly relationship, so I still found a couple of things to say. :)
First off, I read a lot of fan complaints lately, expressing concerns about the fact that Dean wasn't given enough screen-time and/or development in these last couple of episodes, and I have to say that I am really surprised about that notion. I think if anything it was Sam who got the short end of the stick so far. I mean, for the main part of this season the narrative focus was firmly set on Dean. The writers explored in detail how Dean was affected by John's death, how he loathed his father's sacrifice for his life and most importantly, how he suffered from the burden John put on him with his final words about Sam, and in the process Dean's character grew and changed considerably. I think given the fact that S1 focused mostly on Sam's character growth, it made sense that Dean was in the spotlight of the first part of S2. At the end of Hunted though, most of the Dean centred plotlines reached a temporary resolution – he dealt with his father's death, revealed the 'secret' to Sam and reached a compromise with his brother – and in my opinion the writers handled Dean's slow character progression beautifully.
Sam, on the other hand, was mostly used as a support unit for his brother in this season, as a steady presence at Dean's side, focused on helping him through the crisis, and I loved that role reversal between the brothers like something fierce. However, Sam's own side of the story has been severely neglected so far. His breakdown at the end of Everybody Loves A Clown was never picked up again and there was no proper closure for his own grief and guilt after John’s death. He was simply too preoccupied with his tailspinning brother, and there have only been few scenes that offered some insight into Sam's mindset. So, I think it is about time that the story changes its focus to Sam now and explores how he deals with their current situation. It also shifts Sam and Dean's relationship back to their established role allocation of Dean taking care of a freaked-out Sam, which in turn gives Dean the opportunity to focus on something other than his own problems, and I think that's a good thing.
In conclusion, the show always works best for me, when both characters are on equal footing. We only have two main characters and neither brother is more or less important than the other. I think that it is important to explore both characters equally, since their stories are interdependent, and in the end a lack of balance between them will reflect negatively on both character arcs. Personally, I was immensely satisfied with Dean's character development this season so far, and I hope that Sam draws level with him over the next couple of episodes.
Anyway, onto the actual review of the episode!
Sam: "We got to save as many people as we can."
Dean: "Wow. That attitude is just way too healthy for me."
The opening dialogue between the brothers was fabulous and very revealing in regard to Sam's current state of mind. It’s obvious that Dean's revelation about John’s last words confirmed Sam’s biggest fears about himself and his possible role in the YED's scheme, and unsurprisingly he takes it hard and is scared out of his wits. In addition, Ava’s sudden and mysterious disappearance doesn’t bode well for Sam either, after all, she was one of the YED’s special children as well, and it’s easy to imagine that Sam relates to her ominous fate on a very personal level. Sam’s fears find their outlet in his sudden obsession with saving as many people as he possibly can – a notion Dean can very well relate to, as he often uses the hunt as a means of distraction as well – but later in the episode that obsession easily reveals itself as Sam’s way of gathering positive karma, so to speak. Saving other people suddenly turned into a means of salvation for himself. Sam is convinced that if he can only be good enough, he can change his destiny.
While Dean goes along with Sam’s suggestions, it’s clear that he himself is weary and exhausted. Overall he comes off as subdued, his barely concealed sarcasm has more bite than usual and at times it seems he tries to overcompensate by being especially cheerful, but it appears forced. However, it's Dean's ingrained instinct to take care of his little brother and be strong if he needs him to be - even if he barely has enough energy left to keep on going himself - and so that's what he does.
Sam: "You're the only one who can do it. Promise."
Dean: "Don't ask that of me."
Sam: "Dean, please. You have to promise me."
The scene where a drunk Sam wrangles the promise from Dean that he will kill Sam – should he ever turn evil – was undoubtedly the crucial scene of the episode. In effect Sam demands the same impossible task from Dean that John already demanded before him, and I think the only reason why Dean doesn’t refuse Sam is because he wants to give his little brother the peace of mind he so desperately craves. I don’t think Dean has ever been able to say 'no' to a Sam who is so clearly in distress. However, Dean is quite obviously the only person who can’t fulfil this promise, the only person who will never be able to give up on his brother and believe that he is beyond the point of salvation. If anything Dean’s inability to kill an infected Sam in Croatoan and his decision to rather die himself than survive his brother’s death shows that no matter what he tells Sam here, he will never be able to keep that promise.
I think Sam is too desperate (and drunk) to comprehend the burden he puts on his brother’s shoulders. He selfishly seeks relief from his own worst fears by transferring them to Dean, safe in the knowledge that if he loses control, he can trust Dean to have it for him. Still, Sam’s reaction to his immediate fears is understandable and undoubtedly based on the fact that Dean has been Sam’s primary caretaker since childhood. Who else could he turn to but Dean? The only person who always proved to be a solid stronghold against everything they encountered. Even though the latest events allowed Sam to experience first hand that Dean’s outward confidence is often simply a front and how close Dean came to his breaking point after John’s death, he falls back on the security net of his big brother per default. It's not that he deliberately tries to hurt his brother, he is simply unable to look past his own fears.
I think it is especially worth noting in this context that Dean criticizes John’s decision to burden him with this responsibility in the first place so directly here. Dean has expressed his anger with John before, for example in his violent outburst against the Impala at the end of Everybody Loves A Clown or in his hard stance towards Professor Mason in Children Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things and Evan Hudson in Crossroad Blues. In all those cases Dean’s angry behaviour has clearly been at least partly redirected anger about John’s actions. Here though he straight out condemns his father’s cruel last 'order' and criticizes his approach to parenting. John must have known how much Dean would suffer from that burden in particular, but he said his piece anyway. And frankly, given the vagueness of his last words – he offered no hard facts or leads to go on for Dean, just an unspecific and ominous warning – I find the notion that John prepared or even protected his sons by confiding in Dean laughable. I really liked the small glimpse of progress in Dean’s development, away from the hero worship towards John and towards becoming a man of his own.
In any case, the final scene where Sam reinforces the seriousness of his request and doesn’t allow Dean to retreat from the promise he has given earlier – even playing the 'you were sober, even if I was drunk' card – was heartbreaking. Dean’s devastated expression at Sam’s hard stance and the oppressive silence in the car spoke volumes of their fractured state. The situation is obviously immensely straining on Sam and Dean individually, as well as on their relationship as brothers, and that’s unsettling, given that they just barely managed to recover from John’s death.
Dean: "Old school haunted houses. You know, fog, secret passageways, sissy british accents."
Last but not least, some general thoughts about the episode: I think one of the biggest problems of this episode was the lack of clear structure and organic development of the plot, it simply didn’t 'flow' very well. The editing didn't provide a smooth transition between the scenes, the timeline was oddly erratic and some scenes were lacking a proper build-up, most notably the drunk scene, which was just shoved somewhere into the episode without setting it up first. However, I blame most of these flaws on the writer, who is new to the team. On a more positive note though, Playthings was immensely creepy for me. Lifelike dolls, doll’s houses and evil imaginary friends always had an unnerving effect on me, so this was one of the few episodes where the monster of the week had its own merits for me.
I thought the episode had a very atypical atmosphere for Supernatural – very quiet and nostalgic – which was probably created by the old-fashioned location of the hotel, the costumes for the little girls and the quiet piano score. I suspected right away that Maggie is a spirit, but that didn’t really interfere with the suspense, and the ultimate plot twist about Maggie and Rose being sisters worked pretty well nonetheless. I have to say though that I was surprised that Sam and Dean took Taylor’s statement that Maggie is gone at face value and didn't make sure themselves that the spirits were indeed vanquished. While it is obviously implied that the killings will stop, now that Maggie is united with her sister, the brothers dismissed the case too easily in my opinion. Although that's maybe an indicator for Sam and Dean's distraught state of mind.
What else was noteworthy:
(1) I am not really a fan of gay jokes in the show, especially since I think it's more added for fan service than actually grounded in internal storytelling reasons. While I enjoyed the more subtle play with the theme in Bugs and Something Wicked, its use in Playthings was too in-your-face and even took Dean slightly out of character. In the aforementioned episodes, where he and Sam were also mistaken for a gay couple, Dean showed no sign of feeling uncomfortable with the notion, on the contrary, he was amused about it. It’s really not hard to imagine that two young men, who travel together and take only single rooms, would be mistaken as a couple on a regular basis, and I think the brothers’ nonchalance in S1 is simply based on being used to the fact. So Dean’s flustered and somewhat awkward reaction in Playthings makes no real sense to me.
(2) I am particularly fond of the scene where the elderly bellboy Sherman asks Dean how he would feel if he would lose his home and Dean states that he never really knew a home. That one line told a story in its own right, because it not only shows how much Dean’s life was affected by the fact that John constantly moved them around, but also insinuates that even if there has never been a place that Dean called home, it was his family that carried the very same meaning in Dean’s life. I just love how the show can give us a whole story with one little throwaway line like this. ♥
(3) There have also been a couple of funny brother scenes/moments that I highly enjoyed, most notably Dean mercilessly teasing a completely hung-over Sam, Sam’s incredulous reaction at Dean’s suggestion to poke old Rose with a stick or Dean telling Sam that he shouldn’t surf the internet for porn. However, the scene where a cheerful Dean 'outs' Sam as a doll collector was a tad too over-the-top and quite frankly, if I had been in Susan’s place, they would totally have creeped me out, and I would never have let them into the room after that.
In conclusion: Playthings will never be a favourite episode of mine, but it has an excellent monster-of-the-week case file and the ominous development of the brotherly relationship made it worthwhile nonetheless. Overall, solid ground for Supernatural.
Did you know? Jared stated that he and Jensen were somewhat freaked out by the room of blank-staring dolls in this episode. They kept daring each other to poke one particular eyeless doll in the eye sockets or to stand alone in the room. The pranks escalated slightly when Jared put a few of the dolls in Jensen's trailer just to freak him out.
no subject
Date: 2007-01-20 01:08 am (UTC)I wish Dean never heard that secret and Sam would be a bit happier than his angstridden!Sam mood as of late. Loved the brotherly banter, too, but there was one scene that keeps bugging me: You're not supposed to get your cast wet-- Sam, with his cast, jumped into the pool-- and came out, dry later,-- most likely with the exact same cast!
It was a good epsy, I agree- but the dolls were a little creepy for my taste. (shudders)
no subject
Date: 2007-01-20 12:40 pm (UTC)Well, I wished for both boys to have a break and be happy as well *hugs the boys* but I guess the writers don't think it's fun to have Dean and Sam play with puppies all day *g*.
Yeah, I am cross with John myself and was completely with Dean when he was finally able to express his anger with John about burdening him with that as well, on the other hand I am kind of torn on the question if it is better for them to know the little they do now or to know nothing at all. I just wished John had told them earlier.