S2 | The Road So Far

[galathea]

I was thinking a bit lately about the differences and parallels between season one and two, what I like and what not so much and thought I might as well write it all down. Not sure if I am very coherent, probably just rambling along mostly, to get it out of my head *g*



So, we are in the middle of the second season and I like to have a short look into the differences between S1 and S2 and they are different in many ways, no two thoughts about that, but not without reason. There was no way that things could stay the same after the huge impact John's death had on the boys and I for one adore Kripke&Co for taking the risk to put off people and realistically leading Sam and Dean through the different stages of grief. I would have felt majorly cheated by my favourite show if they had handled this any other way. I hate it most on other shows that events have little to no impact on characters and that development and integrity of characters are sacrificed for the sake of not irritating the viewers with changes.

So far S2 is a lot darker, more dramatic, tense and intensive and with a heavy emphasis on angst, basically ever since ‘Salvation’ they gave us (and the characters) barely time to breathe. Unlike other shows, SN has no established side characters to fall back on for comic relief, which makes angst in Supernatural a lot more exhausting in comparison. So yeah, it's hard on us viewers and the angst is barely bearable but that's what loss is, confusing, traumatic, life altering, especially given the circumstances. So I for one am very happy that they make this feel real and heavy on us.

That the events cause a shift in the brotherly relationship was also to be expected and I love that they show us how flexible and dynamic their bond is. It's what I really adore about this show, Sam&Dean are never static, always moving and adapting to their changing situations and emotional states, which makes their relationship so deep and interesting to watch.

As I said before, John’s death builds the set-up for the first part of the season, resulting in a character orientated mini-arc that lasts until midseason. Mainly three character plotlines derive from his death, heavily affecting the first 10 episodes:

a) the loss of their father itself, to whom both sons looked for guidance, whom they both used as kind of a security net, when they were at the end of their line of knowledge. Sam and Dean are both affected by his death in different ways, Dean is lost and devastated, Sam feels guilty and tries to cope with his guilt by committing himself to the hunt

b) the slow discovery that John traded his soul for Dean’s life, struck a bargain with the demon who was responsible for their situation in the first place, bringing Dean back from the brink of death with unnatural means, which makes Dean question his integrity as a person, resulting in self-destructive behaviour and self-loathing, as well as anger on how John could sell out his own principles, even if it was for him.

c) the burden of the revelation that John put on Dean’s shoulders before he died, to save Sam from an unknown fate or to fail and facing the horrible consequence to end the life of the one person he loves more than everything, further increasing Dean’s frustration, fear and the overwhelming feeling of being lost.

While John’s loss in general affects both boys, the bulk of the plotlines rests directly on Dean’s shoulders, whereas Sam more or less has to deal with the consequences of a tailspinning brother. I already mentioned in my ‘Hunted’ review that I love how S2 parallels S1 in this set-up: While in S1 Sam was the one who was emotionally thrown on a rocky path by loosing Jess and needed to overcome his guilt and grief with the help of Dean, we see a role reversal in S2 and I enjoy that thoroughly.

In both seasons we have a midterm resolution to the events after the brothers were separated (Scarecrow, Hunted), leading to their re-commitment to their brotherhood and mission. I have no doubt that like in S1 the second part of the season will now have some more stand-alones, focusing on the re-established balance of the brothers, followed by leaning more and more into the mytharc.

So, I think that S2 consistently develops from S1, which is the strong base they build upon this year. The role reversal we see in S2 wouldn’t have been possible without Sam’s character development during S1, in which he re-evaluates his choices and motivations and decides to stand at his brother’s side and it also wouldn’t have been able without Dean learning to open up to his brother and being able to rely on him more.

I won’t conceal that I did miss the light-hearted fun of S1 at times, especially when I found it too hard to watch how close they came to break Dean down completely, but during the summer hiatus I always knew that if they choose to let John die, it needs to have severe consequences for the characters and hence for the atmosphere and the writers didn’t disappoint me in that regard.

I am not always completely happy with how things were handled in some of the episodes: mainly parts of Dean’s drift into violence, though it is in character, it’s something that makes me uneasy (which is probably intended) and the neglect of a proper closure for the grief Sam expressed at the end of ELAC. But I guess it’s a bit idealistic to think they could always fully meet my expectation, they didn’t always do that in S1 either, it doesn’t make me love the show less.

After having seen most episodes at least 6+ times, having them reviewed, thought over and discussed, the perspective on some episodes changed, others stayed the same, so for me ‘Bloodlust’ and ‘Croatoan’ for example lost some of its appeal, others like ELAC or ‘Crossroad Blues’ I grew more fond of (not that I didn’t like them, I just discover even more to love about them than I initially thought). My favourite episodes so far this season are: ‘In My Time Of Dying’, ‘Children Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things’ and ‘Hunted’.

When it comes to the mytharc, I find it interesting that they took established patterns from S1 (house fires, Sam’s visions) and mixed things up again, making it very difficult for the viewer to develop a somehow reliable theory about the demon at the moment, but I love that they are giving us insight every now and then and I do have some hope that they manage to pull the strings together at some point and deliver a (mostly) consistent plotline.

Since they need to develop the mytharc over the course of an unknown number of seasons, I think it is very difficult in planning things out, but I think they are doing a good job between teasing the audience and delivering puzzle pieces, keeping things interesting without leaving us hanging with too many unresolved storylines.

In conclusion: S2 is different from S1 but that doesn’t make me love this season any less so far. It’s still the most intriguing, exciting and moving show I encountered the last couple of years and hopefully in years to come! *g*