hmm

[ivyology]

I think I'll only know how I really feel about this episode at some unknown point down the line, when I've seen how it all goes.  Because if it ends up that the information spewed out in the last act - and jesus, really, since when do you infodump like that, show?- was meant to be taken entirely at face value, then, well, I really might just end up watching the show for the boys, because I kind of put a lot of stock in the idea that demons lie, even as they're telling the truth, which is also a lie, and the truth. 

Because when it comes to the important things, the really important things - things like whether you can save your brother's soul, and what it'll cost your own to do so; things like what going to hell really means, what it means for the person you're going for - people want both, the truth and the lie, no more or less of either than they can wrap their human brains around.

Ruby tells Dean she lied to Sam because it's what he wanted to hear, what he needed to hear, and Dean is so wedded to the idea that the truth = there's no way out for him that he swallows Ruby's every word as more truth when he should (does) know better.  The previouslies conveniently reminded us that Dean could see right through Ruby's exploitation of Sam's weakness - the burning, driving need to save his brother - but Dean's weakness is the same damn thing and what is it Ruby's doing here, if not twisting that to suit whatever it is her needs may be?  Of course Dean thinks all he can do now is get Sam ready for when he's gone, that's not news, but he's running out of time, he's always underestimated just how much he has to give, and, well.  Everyone in hell turns into the things from hell, Ruby tells Dean, and for him that's worse than death or hell (but still probably not quite so bad as failing to take care of Sam); but, Ruby says, I am different from all the rest, I remember what it was to be human.  And if I were writing the story, that would be where Dean was lost, where the truth and the lie converged just right to snare him.  Take away all hope, then give a sliver back: all who go to hell are lost, except.  (I am just like you: trust me.)

That's if I were writing it.  Is it the way the show is writing it?  Am I giving it too much credit?  It's impossible to know, really; this is a show capable of both rainstorms of anvils and gorgeous, breathless subtlety, often in the same damn scene.  I don't have to be right, but if I'm wrong, I want it to be for a reason that makes me sit up and say OH, YES, now I see where you've been going with all of this.  Which is to say I do not just want warring demonic factions, which is not to say warring demonic factions can't work.  But there is a reason I watch this show and not Grey's Anatomy, is what I'm saying.

Or something.  It's very late and I'm very tired.  So.

Comments

[whiteotter.livejournal.com]

I think Ruby's telling the truth.

BUT, I don't think she knows Sam possesses YED's demon blood.

My prediction is that, indeed, Dean does die (because Kripke's a sadistic bastard) and either does go to hell or is about to (because Kripke's a sadistic bastard) and Sam finally embraces all of YED's powers to either (a) literally WALK DOWN INTO HELL, opening the hellgate (let's hope he can get someone with Bobby & Ellen's fortitude to close it behind him... or, wait, maybe he'll do that himself), going down and bringing Dean back up. A la Orpheus. With less singing and more badassery. Because Sam has shared that info with NO ONE. Not Dean, not Bobby... nobody.

And I think it's true that people are turned into demons - it sounds very SPNish - but hell, John Winchester lasted for a whole year, and then got all glowy-sparkly at the end and shot up into what I assume is the SPN version of heaven. So Dean can certainly hold out for that long.

Not to mention that Ruby herself says she doesn't know why she isn't like the others, and I wonder if that's connected to love, somehow. It must have been love for the boys that kept John from turning evil; it was what enabled him to stop his inner YED from killing Dean, back in "Devil's Trap". If love for someone can keep you from turning evil yourself, I also think Dean has a fighting chance.

You could argue that that's exactly what demons WANT us to think, but it has been so long since we've had proof that demons lied on this show (about themselves and their demonology), I'm willing to go with it for the time being.

Anyhoo. Just some rudimentary thoughts. I loved it, obviously, although I also found it heartbreaking, and will probably not be able to recap it until the season plays itself out.