Meta Reaction: Destiny, Desire, and Despair or Hopey McHopeypants the Third Hope

[chasingtides]

Okay, I'm going to admit it. When I was picking up groceries for dinner today and dealing with lousy traffic and seriously depressing weather, I debated watching tonight's episode. I didn't have anything better to do and I really like being part of the East Coast chats in mishaland, but the last couple of episodes, but 4.16 On the Head of a Pin, have been beyond depressing.

I don't normally drop things midway - I made it all the way through Lord of the Rings when I was eleven, I can make it through Supernatural when I'm 22. However, there's a world of difference between, "The world is a hellish sort of place, but we can rely on each other," (the Fellowship and Samwise and Frodo in LotR, Sam and Dean in most of seasons 1 - 3) and, "The world is a hellish place and hell is other people; abandon all hope ye who enter here."

There are, of course, the little things that delighted me in this episode. Dean's cleansing! This gave me joy. I only know cleanses in the most esoteric way, in that, the week my coworkers say that they are cleansing is the week that I should most definitely hide my chips and burgers. There's nothing quite like eating lunch while your coworkers watch you like a pack of ravenous wolves. Sam asking if they'd tried to turn it off and on! Sam's shirt! Dean's whole set of outfits! Justification for my quiet shipping of Bobby and Ellen did not go unnoticed, either. Nor did the Madison-animal hospital reference. Or the Winchester to Smith & Wesson.

However, this episode, I hope, serves a greater purpose, despite its name.

According to TVTropes's Supernatural page (I'm sorry, I really am), "it's gotten so bleak and dark and pessimistic that you kind of wish that they're going to start moving towards having hope and lightness again," and, "by the time it's done this show will likely be challenging Warhammer 40000 for the Grimdark crown."

In On the Head of a Pin, I couldn't have agreed more. For the past week, I've been ready to hand over that Grimdark crown and pick up some Sylvia Plath to cheer myself up. Or maybe some of those Vietnam war novels the nuns made me read in high school.

In 4.16, we saw an incredible breakdown of both of our heroes. Dean, who has been struggling this season to come to grips with his role in Hell, returned to torture his mentor/torturer. Sam drank Ruby's blood. (Okay, whatever stance I have on Sam's powers, drinking someone else's blood like that a) isn't healthy and b) is really simply shorthand for Bad Mojo.) I maintain that they both did the best with the hands they were dealt, but those weren't just bad hands, they were Grimdark hands. It's not just that Sam and Dean are in a bad spot. They cannot - or will not - rely upon each other. They are separated, both physically and emotionally.

Beyond that, There Is No Greater Good. Uriel is an angel. Though we know that angels can fall (and fall but not fall because there are massive plotholes the size of the Grand Canyon), it is not an immediate thought to say, "Obviously the angel is doing bad things." However, Uriel, who, by much major theology, is an archangel, turns out to be a Fallen Angel, a sympathizer with Lucifer, a traitor who is killing his fellow soldiers.

We're all probably going to Hell anyway, but it's not like Heaven is actually any less deadly or like God exists or anything. Everything is pain and torture and blood and death. Oh, and the world is ending and it's one of our heroes' fault because he was so weak as to give into thirty years of endless torture.

(As a note, this is from TVTropes' Warhammer 40k page for a definition of Grimdark: "The Imperium of Man is an oppressive, stark, and downright miserable place to live in where, for far too many people, living isn't something to do until you die, but something to do until something comes around and kills you in an unbelievably horrible way - quite probably someone on your own side....Death is about the best you can hope for...an eternal, impossibly vast conflict between a number of absurdly powerful genocidal, xenocidal and in one case omnicidal factions, with every single weapon, ideology and creative piece of nastiness imaginable turned up to eleven." That sounds a lot like the worldview from 4.16, in my opinion.)

Right. Uh huh.

In a massively appreciated case of mood whiplash, we get 4.17 It's a Terrible Life. Cheerful music! Sam wears a cheerful yellow shirt! Dean drinks lattes with, if breakinporcelan was right, rice milk! Office work! Life that most of the viewers can relate to better than Sam and Dean's usual lifestyle!

And then it goes beyond superficial fanservice! We get to see Sam and Dean actually working together. They are finally functioning together as a working team, though it breaks my heart that they are working better as strangers than as brothers. They interact and joke. Dean mistakes Sam's conversation broaching as come-ons. Sam is freaked out by his strange, monster-filled dreams.

As the weapon was coming to a close, sometime around 8:45 pm EST, I became a bit sad, realising that this happy bubble would pop. Sam and Dean would remember that they are brothers, that their last name is Winchester, and that they have more baggage than a nineteenth century steamship. And everything would return to our Grimdark world and there would only ever be despair.

However, the episode proves to be more than a great Monster of the Week episode - it manages to be both Mytharc and Monster of the Week. We are introduced to the angel Zachariah. (Zechariah? Biblicly, I know of the prophet and the father of John the Baptist, but I know of no angel, not theologically or even in ceremonial magic, by that name. Zerachiel/Zadkiel, another archangel?)

I would like to reanme, fannishly, Zachariah/Zechariah "Mr Hope" or "Hopey McHopeypants the Third Hope" (whichever pleases you more).

Dean gets angry, rightfully so, when his memories are returned.

And Hopey McHopepants the Third Hope has an amazing speech. I typed part of it down as I heard it on my screen and I'll edit it up when I can but here's the part I've got for now:

"You get to save people, maybe even change the world. All the while you get to drive a classic car and fornicate with women. This isn't a curse...Are you ready to stand up and be you really are?"

Thank you, Mr Hope.

I have no problem with understanding that characters feel trauma. I have no problem with moral ambiguity. But there does come a point - that I was fast reaching - where "morally gray" become "darkness of depressing hell." And having even one voice that says, with any kind of hope, that the good thing can be done, good can prevail, hope will become reality, Frodo can throw destroy the ring, is sometimes all you need. And that voice can keep the next broken seal or dead body or memory from hell being the straw that breaks this fan's back.

I am hoping that Hopey McHopeypants the Third Hope lives up to the name I have given him. I do not think that Sam or Dean will, any time soon, either cease to clam up (hell, Dean wouldn't talk to Sam when he didn't know who either of them were and Sam smashed a phone before he decided to bargain from Dean's point of view). Castiel, in my opinion, doesn't understand humans well enough to understand that, "You were the first seal and it's your job to stop Lucifer," is a really downer thing to say. And Ruby, I fully maintain, has a motive and a plot of her own, one that generally isn't sunshine and rainbow bunnies.

No, Hopey McHopeypants the Third Hope with his take-charge manner and firm belief that this can be done reminds me a bit of a young John Winchester. Coincidence? Unlikely. However, I foresee good coming of it. (And he even recognizes that Dean has Daddy issues. Actually, does any supernatural entity not know about Dean's Daddy issues? Does he have a neon sign or something?)

Comments

[crimsonkitty88.livejournal.com]

Your subject line makes me giggle. A lot.

Now. I'm going to go watch the eppie so I can come back and actually READ this.

[breakinporcelan.livejournal.com]

And having even one voice that says, with any kind of hope, that the good thing can be done, good can prevail, hope will become reality, Frodo can throw destroy the ring, is sometimes all you need. And that voice can keep the next broken seal or dead body or memory from hell being the straw that breaks this fan's back.

Yes, THIS. Exactly. This was what both we and the Winchesters needed.

And I re-checked the episode (God bless DVR) and it WAS rice milk.

[dragon-lord.livejournal.com]

Hopey McHopeypants makes me want to laugh my ass off.

That said... I think all the darkness is coming back with next week's ep. Woe.

[static-pixie.livejournal.com]

Dude, I think he was definitely prodding Dean in the right direction and, yeah, we ALL needed something uplifting after all the depressing shit that's gone down. It was nice to have an episode that was almost a throwback to the first/second season, what with the lack of the mythos hanging over our heads, and SO MUCH YES to the Bobby and Ellen (and the Jo, which I thought was perfect since, yeah, she really was a little sister). I'm a bit more cynical than you about McHopeypants (I wrote something about it I think I'll post tomorrow) but, yeah, I think he was definitely a step in the right direction for Dean (and in true SPN fashion, though he was complimentary, the real message seemed to be 'suck it up and deal' but the 'because you CAN' was awesome). Plus...yeah, I know there's been a lot of complaints about the whole season being about Dean but I think this episode showed how much this season actually hasn't been about him as a person necessarily, he's just had more lines and more scenes. Since here, his changing emotions were actually up in the forefront rather than hinted at from the sides. If that makes sense.

[erda-3.livejournal.com]

Hee! So very true on the need for a little ray of hope.

Plus this:
pick up some Sylvia Plath to cheer myself up.
made me lol.

[impulsiveanswer.livejournal.com]

I like the name Hopey McHopeypants myself :)

God, I loved 4.17 - and, like you, I needed 4.17 and it's sunniness and it's boys-learning-to-trust-and-work-togetheriness (together-iness?). All those little Easter eggs references to past episodes were a delightful bonus and watching Sam clobber that phone with the poker was icing on the cake (there are days I make it through work by daydreaming about doing something similar).

But there does come a point - that I was fast reaching - where "morally gray" become "darkness of depressing hell."

Amen! In the past no matter how serious the situation was the boys still seemed to have some fun with it. That fun got lost under a mountain of guilt, anger, depression, addiction, manipulation, secrets, faith issues, and daddy issues. There are five episodes left to the season - let's get out from under all that before the summer hiatus!

Castiel, in my opinion, doesn't understand humans well enough to understand that, "You were the first seal and it's your job to stop Lucifer," is a really downer thing to say. And Ruby, I fully maintain, has a motive and a plot of her own, one that generally isn't sunshine and rainbow bunnies.

Agreed. Hopefully Castiel will start learning more about humans and their responses now that he's more open to thinking outside the box; and hopefully Ruby will meet the wrong end of a certain demon-killing knife soon (I don't trust her at all).

Actually, does any supernatural entity not know about Dean's Daddy issues? Does he have a neon sign or something?)

Dude, people living in the heart of the Amazon Rain Forest know Dean has daddy issues. For a character who so dislikes displays of emotion and "chick flick moments" he's awful at hiding how he feels.

[datenshiblue.livejournal.com]

I agree with your take on this. Zachariel's (maybe sp?) pep talk did give me an almost unexpected lift of spirit.

I actually got my first big dose of hope for this half of this season, (which has been all DARKDARKDARKDOWNDOWNDOWNINTOHELL for me since the xmas break) with the previous 4.16, though, believe it or not. Even though the news about Dean being the first seal was crushing for him on top of the already beat-down and generally awful torture job, for me the viewer it was hopeful to finally find out what the feck the angels want from him.

And, given the (fan exacerbated) worries I had about Sam, weirdly, actually seeing him drink Ruby's blood was a small relief in that his other shoe dropped finally, the secret thing he didn't want to do to beef up his powers, that I'd been worrying about since the fall, was revealed. Knowing is better for me than not knowing.

Plus, Sammy coming in to save Dean, save Castiel, and get the information that eventually exposed Uriel was for me very cool, even though I know there's going to be a terrible cost to Sam.

But the scene of Sam at Dean's side in the hospital? Of Sam heading after Castiel while the angel tries to slide away, and demanding healing for Dean, as well as giving Castiel a piece of his mind about the whole fiasco?

That, that gave me hope.

I know it's not as good as seeing the boys talking, relating, when they're both awake and aware, but like you said, sometimes it just takes a sliver to give hope, and that scene right there did it for me. Protective!Worried!Sam, I missed you!

4.17's change of tone was definitely a relief, the humor was welcome, the guys in those outfits were delicious, the teamwaork was precious, the fanservice was hilarious, and the end capped it off as not just some pointless sidetrip but having actual purpose.

So, three cheers for hope! ^___^;