SDCC 2012 | Jensen interview

[galathea]

I just saw this Jensen interview from SDCC, where he talks about Dean’s unforgiving attitude towards Castiel, and it resonated deeply with my own take on the Dean-Castiel relationship, so I was delighted to see Jensen’s similar thoughts on the subject. I wrote up a transcript of it. No worries, there are no spoilers for S8.



Question: "Why has Dean such a hard time forgiving Cas, whereas he forgave Sam for a similar betrayal?"

Jensen: "I think the easy answer is blood; the easy answer is family. Even though, if there was a family in this show, it would include Bobby, it would include Cas. It would include these kind of broken, war-torn heroes that we’ve come to know. Bobby even has that famous line, you know, family doesn’t just end with blood. But I think the short answer is, he (Sam) is his brother, and there might be grudges held between them, but at the end of the day that’s the closest he has to a companion – and has had as a companion for many years. I think with Cas, it’s unnatural. He’s an angel, he’s not human. I think that Dean relating to somebody like that is tricky. You know, it’s related to monsters, related to anything supernatural. His brother is flesh and blood, it’s tangible, and he can touch that."

There are two things I love about Jensen’s answer. Firstly, I love that he refers to Sam as Dean’s companion. I think it’s a wonderful word for everything Sam encompasses for Dean – not just a brother, not just a hunting partner, but someone who accompanies him through this life, a constant, something solid. ♥ Secondly, I love that Jensen points out Dean’s difficulties to relate to someone who is not human. It’s something I feel has always been a factor in Dean’s relationship with Castiel, and for me Dean’s various attempts to 'humanise' the angel speak volumes about his comfort-level (or lack thereof) where his friendship with him is concerned. Dean’s deeply ingrained mistrust and hatred of the supernatural affected even his relationship with Sam at times, so I think it’s natural that he has a hard time looking past Castiel’s otherworldly nature. Now, for Dean to overcome these feeling to form a friendship with Castiel in the first place is remarkable in itself though and should not be underestimated, I just don’t think it could ever be on the same level as his relationship with Sam (or Bobby, for that matter). And that's especially true ever since Castiel betrayed him, because basically the angel proved Dean's every negative preconception about supernatural creatures right.

Comments

[llywela13.livejournal.com]

Aww, that's a nice little snippet of interview. :)

[maenad.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's nice. I generally avoid actor interviews because they're so often disappointing.

I like tangible myself, because Dean has always seemed to be disturbed with and annoyed by things that somehow aren't real. They've never seen Castiel's real face (and never can), he shifts from corporeal to incorporeal with scarcely a thought and his identity is hugely changeable, depending as much on who he's currently following as it does on what he really thinks. One thing I like about season six is the way they look at the twin problems of Sam and Castiel - that the air of unreality about Sam in the first half of the season is so obviously unnatural for him.

[bowtrunckle.livejournal.com]

I liked the choice of "companion" was very enlightening, too. That's the first time JA has used that word to describe Sam (unless he did it in an SPN Mag article or one of the more recent season companion guides). It's esp. appropriate in light of the fact Sam and Dean are soul mates as per "Dark Side of the Moon".

I just don’t think it could ever be on the same level as his relationship with Sam (or Bobby, for that matter). And that's especially true ever since Castiel betrayed him, because basically the angel proved Dean's every negative preconception about supernatural creatures right.

I think having Dean react differently to Cas's betrayal gives emotional texture to his character, the story, and the relationships between the characters. It makes it interesting as it should be bec. fictional characters have just as much right to be unpredictable and complex as real people. I can't think of anything more boring, lazy, or unsatisfying than to have Dean respond to Cas in the same way he responded to Sam's mistakes. Sometimes I think questions like that can *sometimes* come from a fannish confrontational place where people see things as either/or or better/worse than.

[frelling-tralk.livejournal.com]

Aww, I like that quote :) And really the people acting like Dean *had* to forgive Castiel to be fair after he forgave Sam is just bizarre to me when they were such different situations.