Angelic Parallels in Heaven and Hell: Thoughts on Castiel and Sam in 4.10

[chasingtides]

So I re-watched Heaven and Hell tonight. (Oh, and my father thinks that Anna is a weak, poorly written, whiny milksop. My mother likes Castiel.)

Hey, Castiel, can you get more passive? Seriously. Even when Alistair is attacking you or Uriel is being a jackass, Castiel is immensely passive.

Actually, Castiel and Sam act pretty similarly in this episode. Until Dean is threatened, neither of them do anything. Uriel and Dean act similarly - they are both verbally violent and take physical action.

What does it mean, other than my amusement at watching Uriel call Dean a monkey and Dean call Uriel junkless? (I do like it when Dean calls Uriel junkless.) I'm not entirely sure.

Sam is, by the presence of his demon blood and his faith, in a gray area. He believes that there are better things in this world (see Houses of the Holy, 2.13). He wants the angels to be the angels of his faith (see It's The Great Pumpkin, Sam Winchester, 4.07). The angels, however, don't seem to be terribly pleased with Sam, despite the fact that he actually believes in them. He didn't need to see them or their wings - he knew that they were real, needed them to be real, in a way that was never true for Dean. And yet, he is the so-called Boy King - the poisoned human with the demonic powers. He is torn between using his powers for good and following the apparent will of God. What about the people who will die, he asks himself in 4.07, what about the people he can save?

Castiel, too, is in a strange place. He is angel who loves his Father and his Father's creations (4.07). However, unlike Uriel, his violent and shoot-first-ask-later counterpart, has his doubts. He wants to save, to love, to let live. He is a soldier, but he, as best he can, cares. When he and Uriel encounter Anna in Heaven and Hell (4.10), he tells he that he is sorry. She tells him he is not. In 4.07, he appears to have doubts.

Neither Sam nor Castiel take action in the same way Dean and Uriel do in 4.10. In the first scene, in the encounter in the shack, Dean and Uriel go at it like angry cats, but both Sam and Castiel hang back. Castiel turns away from Uriel and looks down. When Uriel attacks Ruby, Sam - whom we know know was in some kind of sexual relationship with her - hangs back, while Dean goes after Uriel. Dean and Uriel fight physically. Sam turns to Castiel and begs him to stop. Castiel pulls his sleepy-time fingers and removes Sam from the situation in a most nonviolent way.

Again, at the end of the episode, when the angels, demons, and Winchesters meet in the barn, both Sam and Castiel hang back. They don't fight. They are passive. Dean and Uriel both attack and fight like the soldiers that they are.

I am not sure what this means. But I do think that the parallels (Uriel:Dean, Castiel:Sam) are interesting. I think Castiel's character is evolving. I don't think he's as simple as Anna made angels out to be - he is very clearly thinking differently from Uriel in this episode. I don't think he's falling, but he and Uriel are behaving very differently and possibly toward different ends.

Comments

[jameserin.livejournal.com]

this is of no importance whatsoever, but i always thought that dean called uriel "junkless" because he said "you're junkless down there, right? like a ken-doll" earlier in the episode. which is why i found "oh, it looks over to me, junkless(chuckless, maybe?)" so amusing at the end.

i love dean so much. <3 haha.

[chasingtides.livejournal.com]

I thought it was Juggles. It might be Chuckles. I will have to rewatch that scene after the Daily Show. (I can't bear to watch that whole episode again. Anna is such a milksop. I can't deal with her. If she comes back I'm hoping she either has a stronger character or stronger actress, as I'm not sure which is the problem.)

[tahirire.livejournal.com]

What does it mean, other than my amusement at watching Uriel call Dean a monkey and Dean call Uriel juggles?

*giggles* It's 'junkless'. But either way ... hee.

And also, I agree. I was mildly shocked that it was Dean who stepped up to help Ruby and not Sam, but thinking about it, it made sense. Sam doesn't love Ruby. He uses her as he needs her help, and he trusts her enough to let her be that help, but in the end, she's a demon to him. Sam, whether he would admit it or not, really wants the angel's approval. He always wants to talk first anyway, but here, I think he hesitates because he equates helping Ruby with damning himself.

Dean, on the other hand, is in such a place of guilt and self-loathing right now. He doesn't think he deserved to get saved, so if he pisses them off, really things just go back to how they were supposed to be. Also, Dean has just thanked Ruby for saving Sam, and as we've seen in the past, Dean is loyal to people he feels he owes a debt to, no matter who it is, or how much danger helping them puts him in.

Wow, that was long. Hi.

[chasingtides.livejournal.com]

JUGGLES. I am so checking this when I get back to my external.

I love Dean, but I do wish he cared about himself as much as Sam does. I mean, faith =/ self-esteem, but Dean, even after he knows the angels saved him on purpose, doesn't think he ought to be saved. Oh, Dean.

[tahirire.livejournal.com]

I second your "Oh, Dean" and I raise you a *wibble*

And it's totally Junkless.

[jameserin.livejournal.com]

i'm thinking that maybe she'll come back in a dream dean is having? maybe? haha.

(ps - i am only using this icon so that i can objectify the gay man's mouth. i am so wrong. *g*)

[chasingtides.livejournal.com]

I will do you battle on this one after the Daily Show is over. :)

I also find it truly interesting that the Sam folk seem to dislike Castiel and the Dean folk dislike Uriel (obviously rules about blanket generalisations apply here). I have no idea what this means, but it truly intrigues me.

[tahirire.livejournal.com]

Huh. Really? I am (obviously) a Sam folk, and I LOATHE Uriel.

I think Samidha is the only person I've EVER talked to that likes him, lolz. But of course our circles only overlap by a few people. On my flist though, it's pretty much Uriel = die in a fire, and Castiel = love, no matter which brother owns your soul. :-)

It is a duel. *bows*

[jameserin.livejournal.com]

you don't know me, but i just wanted to say that i agree with this comment.

[tahirire.livejournal.com]

Oh! Well, thank you! :-)

[chasingtides.livejournal.com]

I am also using my parents (my father is Dean folk and my mother is Sam folk) as a measure. This is possibly faulty, but I don't see a whole lot of Uriel talk in the fandom. (Although, damn, he's fun to write.)

[chasingtides.livejournal.com]

(Jensen is so gay that I think he's allergic to girls. Rewatching that sex scene was painful, I tell you.)

I'm hoping she comes back as an angry avenging angel in a new body.

[jameserin.livejournal.com]

you're welcome. at first, i was like WTF DEAN, WHY ARE YOU HELPING HER? but then i thought about it, and it made sense to me, too. it probably made sense in dean's little self-loathing head too. :/

[tahirire.livejournal.com]

He IS fun. And Castiel, while I can picture him so, SO clearly in my head, is hard for me. Something about the otherworldy qualities he has are just ... gah. I mean, you can only call an angel otherworldly one time per fic, y/y? *giggles*

[tahirire.livejournal.com]

*shakes head sadly*

Oh, DEAN.

*sobs and sobs*

[summersiren.livejournal.com]

Yeah I thought in that episode, Sam and Castiel are kind of alike, as well as Dean and Uriel are alike in how they deal with issues and situations.

[jameserin.livejournal.com]

(Jensen is so gay that I think he's allergic to girls. Rewatching that sex scene was painful, I tell you.)

i know. i actually cringe watching it, except for the part where they show jensen's shoulders and back. that makes it tolerable for me. yes, i am aware that i am shallow. :P

[samidha.livejournal.com]

Dude, yes, it is definitely junkless. At least, that actually makes sense in context (Ken).

[chasingtides.livejournal.com]

Castiel is such a bitch to write. I mean so much of what he does is in facial expression and body language - whereas Uriel is voice and action. There are also only so many times I can say, "He gazed with a steady angelic stare."

[tahirire.livejournal.com]

YES!

He is like writing powers!Sam TIMES A BILLION. *epic headdesk*

[chasingtides.livejournal.com]

Well, he does call him "Junkless, like a Ken doll." But later, when Uriel is threatening him, I think he calls him Juggles.

[tahirire.livejournal.com]

It IS junkless! Why does everyone doubt me!?

[jameserin.livejournal.com]

it's hard to tell, what with dean's voice and all - but that's what i thought it was. *nod*

[tahirire.livejournal.com]

You are mixing up 4.7 and 4.10, where Dean calls Uriel 'chuckles'.

'chuckles' + 'junkless' = 'juggles', y/y?

[samidha.livejournal.com]

To me, Castiel is a fucking milksop, okay? ;) Castiel and Anna clearly need to get it on, so that Castiel can fall, get it over with, and leave all the avenging angel ass kickng to people who can actually bother to do it.

I don't think Uriel is sympathetic, but I like him. He gets shit done. IMO.

And also, I don't need another theoretically morally ambiguous figure. I've got my Sam. ;)