Supernatural Think Tank - Anna's Thoughts on 13x02 The Rising Son

I'd just like to note, since this is a site that is very sensitive about Dean Winchester, that the following diatribe is in no way a slam on Dean's character.  Like I've said, when I write my articles I usually will touch on something that hits me the hardest, that I notice most and expand on it.  As I watched this episode, one line from a very funny movie kept ringing in my ears.......It comes from Mr. Mom, as Jack, the newly out of work and now stay at home dad is dropping the kids off at school.  Let's just say that Jack has no idea of the correct procedure, as he goes in through the out....and in the immortal words of Ann Jillian comes one of the most famous lines in movie history....."Jack, you're doing it wrong".  And with that all these thoughts came flooding into my head.

Dean.....You're Doing It Wrong

Let me start out by saying that I'm not oblivious to Dean's hurt right now. I get it. We all do and even if not everyone could understand Dean's treatment of Jack, Sam explained it all in enlightening detail when he was trying to reassure Jack that Dean didn't hate him.  Regardless of the pain Dean is feeling right now,  I do believe that Dean's current treatment of Jack is both unfair and misguided. I also believe that if Dean doesn't change his approach he can very well end up, in part,  being responsible for Jack turning towards a dark path.

Even without Sam explaining to Jack what's going on with Dean, it's still pretty obvious to see.  Dean is hurt and angry, but please let us not forget  that he's not the only one who's suffering from loss.  While Dean's attitude is understandable, it doesn't necessarily mean he's right.  Huh, you know it's usually  Sam who's always been on the receiving end of Dean's hurt/anger.  Maybe that's one of the reasons Sam has displayed such empathy with Jack. Though Sam is dealing with his loss differently, by focusing on Jack and holding onto hope that Mom is alive, it doesn't make his observations about Jack or his belief in him any more wrong than Dean believing the opposite.  Here's the thing, there's more likely a chance of Jack becoming the very thing Dean believes he'll be because Dean keeps telling him that he will.

Dean doesn't believe Jack can be saved, or maybe it's more that Dean's afraid to believe that Jack could be saved.  If he believes as Sam does and something happens where it ends up they're wrong, I guess the pain would be  worse than having to have never believed in Jack in the first place.  Whatever the reason, Dean doesn't believe in Jack's innate goodness, his human side, his mother's side, the same way Sam does.  Then Sam was always more about faith than Dean.  Dean's prejudice against Jack because of who his father is mixed in with his misguided anger towards him for actions he never committed nor was ever really responsible for, has Dean sending out hate vibes to Jack. How my heart broke for this boy as he questioned Sam as to why Dean hated him so much?  Dean's attitude towards Jack for something he hasn't even yet done or even considered.  I feel sorry for Jack right now.  He has no understanding of what his powers are and is yet able to control them. He knows he's different and feels out of place and alone.  Reminds me a little of how ET must've felt when he got left behind.  He's literally new to everything and all he's getting from Dean is negativity, a constant reminder that he is destined to be evil and he will have to be stopped. I fear this constant negativity he keeps putting on Jack will slowly but surely end up convincing Jack that he is in fact bad, so why be anything else?

I think Dean is acting very much like his father where Jack is concerned, and that is not a compliment.  Think about the way the boys perceive themselves, or how they've perceived themselves all these years.  Much of the self loathing these boys feel towards themselves was in part due to how John treated them. Think about this.  Dean has Jack believing that he hates him. Dean hasn't been very nice to him. Jack may be new to this world, but he can tell when someone harbours anger towards him.  The poor kid just doesn't understand why, since he's done nothing wrong. Dean's made it clear that Jack's powers and who his father happens to be are what will destine him to be evil.  How many times does one have to be told that they're no good and never will be before they start to believe it? Isn't Dean following in his own father's footsteps here? Didn't Dean feel like a disappointment to his father, especially after he'd almost gotten Sam killed as we saw in Something Wicked. Didn't Dad's disappointment in Dean affect him so profoundly that Dean followed his fathers orders without question.  What about Sam?  John never accepted Sam for being different, at least that's what Sam has always believed.  Why?  Because Sam didn't want to bow hunt?  Because Sam wanted to play soccer and be a normal kid?  John told Sam to never come back when Sam got a full ride to Stanford.  What about Sam's ability?  John knew more than he let on.  He knew what Azazel had done and why.  John's last words to Dean were an order, an order to kill Sam if he couldn't save him. John couldn't deal with Sam or his differences on any level, so John pushed Sam away.  Sam was lucky that when it came to his brother, Dean disobeyed his father regardless of those orders.  Sam was lucky too in that Dean didn't believe in Sam's so called destiny, as far as Dean was concerned..."nobody can control you but you. "  Still even though Dean always had Sam believing in him and never seeing him as a disappointment, and Sam had Dean, those negative reactions from their father had them each believing the worst about themselves. Those we look up to can imprint us for the rest of our lives both in a positive and negative way.  

Besides, all this hostility towards Jack isn't due to anything he's personally done. Dean is blaming Jack for what Lucifer has done. He blames Jack for Cas' death, probably because Cas was trying to protect Jack.  Dean seems to have forgotten that they were all trying to protect Jack.  Jack isn't responsible for Lucifer's actions....and Luci wouldn't even be free if it weren't for Crowley. If Crowley hadn't messed with the spell to re-cage Lucifer out of his own pride and need for revenge, Jack wouldn't exist. Dean's hostility towards Jack is misplaced. If Dean doesn't stop taking his anger out on Jack, I fear that Jack will end up taking off and possibly end up in the wrong hands.

I get that Dean needs time.  I can understand why Dean doesn't want to believe Jack can be saved.    The problem is Dean  telling Jack that he can't be saved and warning him that if he does turn he'll kill him. I don't think this was the most tactful or even smart approach. Dean needs to keep his negativity to himself, or between him and Sam. Dean's already convinced Jack that he hates him. Dean is undermining everything Sam is doing here, whether he's aware of it or not, whether he means to or not. Sam is trying to save this kid and Dean is making that all the more difficult for him to do. I'm not saying Dean needs to trust Jack, that trust  needs to be earned ...all I'm saying is that Jack deserves Dean's civility, after all, he's just a kid, new to this world, all alone, with powers he doesn't understand and a destiny that seems to be decided for him....Jack could use a friend, and he's lucky to have that in Sam, but it would be even better if he can have that from both Winchesters. At least until he does something that is no longer deserving of their friendship.

I'm glad Dean is going off on his own in the next ep. I think it's for the best. I don't want Dean around Jack right now.  It's not good for either of them.  I think it would be better if Jack were with Sam alone. Perhaps Dean going off and interacting with people with powers will open Dean's eyes to the realisation that he's tried, judged and is ready to hang Jack before he even committed a crime. I think Dean needs to be with people( who aren't his brother) and who aren't so quick to see the worst in others, and are willing to give them a chance...like Jody for instance, who  has done that with Alex and Claire.   I really hope that this next episode gives Dean something to think about in regards to his opinion and treatment of Jack.......because right now......"Dean, you're doing it wrong". 

Sam

What I really love about Sam is his endless supply of hope and his willingness to see the good in people, or not people.  He's got a gentleness and a kindness about him that enables him to reach people and in turn they open up to him.  I am so proud of the way he's handling Jack right now.  I feel for Jack.  I don't necessarily see him destined to be like his father.  I think Jack has just as much of a chance to be like his mom.  Jack has shown that he cares about others and even cares about what others think of him.  He saved the boys and Donatello from Asmodeus.  He called them his friends and became angry that they were being hurt.    While Dean might not fall into the friend category as of this moment, Sam certainly does.  I have to say Sam is a very good person to have on your side. 

Sam doesn't believe, the way Dean does that Mom is dead.  In fact, he has resolved himself to believe that she is very much alive and in need of a rescue, which is actually to be the case right now.  Instead of focusing on his loss, Sam has decided to put his focus on what can be found...in this case, his mom. Sam doesn't believe that Jack is necessarily destined to be evil because Lucifer is his father.  Sam realises that Kelly was his mom who loved Jack very much.  Sam sees the human side of Jack, though he is not oblivious to his powerful side.  It seems to me that Sam also sees a lot of himself in Jack. After all, Sam had powers not so very long ago and they made Sam feel different, apart from everyone else, not normal. Sam couldn't control those powers either, not in the beginning anyway.  Sam's father isn't Lucifer, but Sam has demon blood in him, which was apparently meant to doom him to a life of evil.  Despite the evil that flowed through Sam's blood, Sam was always good.  Sure he made some bad choices, but he's never been evil.  As a matter of fact, the more Sam had been told he was destined to be evil, the more defiant he became.  Defiance, that is a trait I've often felt a gift from his father.  The more John wanted Sam to be a certain way the more Sam defied him.  I've always been grateful to Daddy Winchester for bringing out that quality in Sam, it's part of what makes up Sam's inner strength. Sam is the only positive reinforcement Jack has right now, and what Sam is doing is so very important.  Sam's kindness and faith that Jack could be good, could very well go a long way to making that a reality. At the very most, if circumstance arises where Jack does end up going down a darker path, it'll be the kindness that Sam has shown Jack that will end up saving the Winchesters. 

Asmodeus

I like him. He's wearing the same suit that Sam wore when he was Lucifer in "The End". I dig that southern drawl and the whole "fire and brimstone" way of thinking.  He's most definitely old school and I think he wants to make Hell, a real Hell again.  He's very interesting too. The way he was able to shape shift like that.  I don't think I've ever seen any other demon do that.  This leads me to one of my theories.  Isn't Asmodeus the Prince that had his hobbies.  My theory is the same that it was last season.  I think that  Asmodeus was in fact one of the "old men" in the BMOL.  I think that perhaps Asmodeus' hobby was to take humans and turn them into his own personal killers, killing monsters and hunters alike.  My guess is when the BMOL got wiped out by Sam and his crew, Asmodeus decided on a new hobby.....Jack.  Asmodeus knew everything that was going on and he'd likely know that Crowley was dead.  He doesn't know where Lucifer is and I'm wondering if he even cares.  Lucifer is the one who locked up the Shedim, so why is it that Asmodeus wants them out?  Does he want them out so he can use them as a weapon against Luci, against everyone?  Does he want to befriend Jack so that he is seen in Jack's eyes as a father figure?  Does he want to be able to control Jack by ingratiating himself into Jack's life and convincing him that he's the only one who truly cares about him? Is Asmodeus' goal to rule Hell permanently and not just until Lucifer returns?  I do wonder about such things.

Lucifer/Mary

I'm not getting why Lucifer needs Mary.  He doesn't need a bargaining chip.  Lucifer could snap his fingers and the boys would be history. He could just take Jack, unless Lucifer fears that he won't have the hold over his son that Dean and some others think he'll have?  Perhaps Jack's human side will be stronger than his angel side (not in the physical sense)?  Maybe he needs Mary alive to show Jack he's not so bad as everyone makes him out to be.  Or maybe Lucifer just doesn't want to be alone. Whatever the case, it'll be interesting to see how they both manage in the A/U world. It'll also be interesting to see what part Michael will play in all this.

I really liked this episode.   It was amusing to see Donatello again and quite interesting to see how he's handling being soullessness.  Alexander Calvert continues to pluck at heartstrings.   Jared stole my heart I must say.  I love how well  he knows his brother and tries to explain to Jack what's going on with Dean right now.  I also love the fact that Sam is willing to believe the best in Jack and is doing all that he could to make sure that Jack understands that he's not alone.  Jensen as well put on a wonderful performance.  Everyone did a great job.  I'm really like the actor playing Asmodeus and I can't help but even like the character.  I always enjoy seeing Mark as Lucifer.  I look forward to seeing what's in store for both him and Mary in the A/U.   Haven't seen much with Michael, but I am curious as to what role he'll play.  

That's it for now.  Til next time.

-Anna 

For sweetondean's take and thoughts on The Rising Son click here