SPN season 12 A collection of thoughts

SPN season 12

A collection of thoughts

As I had mentioned prior in my post of season 12 (X), I assume because of unfamiliar behavior of the Winchester brothers, their mom Mary and the turning upside down of SPN canon, that something peculiar is going on. The obvious lack of a plot this season is quite telling and than the confusing smorgasbord of stories that in the end didn't quite fit with the final, saying the usual plot build up wasn't clearly evident, makes one wonder if this season isn't actually closed as one could assume. And season 13, which was announced relatively early, is actually the highlight and revealing season, and the season that definitely shows that the show runners Singer / Dabb have created something new and got rid of the Carver ballast.

Contrary to some viewers when watching the season 12 at first I didn't like what SPN had presented, the show felt artificial, the familiar SPN flair, the famous brotherly chemistry IMO was missing, but also motive, common sense and logic. Just by presenting a Dean calling Sam 'Sammy' or a shoved in brother hug, won't satisfy me. I admit it's nice to see, but it won't change the fact that SPN had tons of opportunities for brotherly moments, but than simply deliberately ignored them. And this circumstance I find quite interesting, because this bears the question, why would SPN create such worthy scenes, but would not use them for their own benefit? Further produce a soap opera-ish season, hence lack of an obvious plot.

Sam hidden in plain sight

Season 12 already began in the final episode of season 11 in “Alpha & Omega”. I assume the moment Amara mentioned to Dean “Dean, you gave me what I needed most. I want to do the same for you.” was the pivotal moment. What if Amara gave Dean more than his mother Mary? She said, she is giving Dean what he needed most... but not what he had desired. The question we should all ask is, what was that Amara needed, that she believed Dean needed it too? Is it that she needed to comprehend the concept of family? That family is more than love and hate? Honestly I don't know.

I only know that the concept 'family is more than love and hate' is repeated. At first the pigeon lady mentioned it in season 11 episode 11x23, remember “AMARA: So you hate him. WOMAN: Well, a little bit. Sometimes. But you know family. Even when you hate them, you still love them.” And now in the season pre-finale episode 22 where Dean says to Mary “I love you, I hate you, I forgive you”. So, it seems Dean grasped the concept of family and the concept of love. Circle closed...well could be.

But than I thought that this 'mommy plot' is very odd, because it was obvious that Sam was kept out the whole “family, love, hate” theme. I mean he was the center for the Dean and mommy reunion in the pre-finale episode 22, so why keep Sam deliberately out of the discussion, when the topics are mainly concerning his past experiences and how they naturally effected Dean? I mean Sam is Dean's family and also Mary's son, so why keep him out of the mommy plot? Further the most disturbing factor is, Sam still feels guilty for things he's not responsible for, because of Mary's doing. Do you see what a great conflict this could have been, I smell drama! Why waste this opportunity? And oddly enough at the pre-finale episode 22, Dean is the one who forgives her for what she did to Sam. Um Pardon me? Do you get the strangeness of this scene?

Notice how SPN again took Sam's autonomy away, he isn't even allowed to talk about his own experiences, no matter what happened in the past or present. I find this quite odd, and scary to say the least, esp. when viewers are blindly cheering Dean's emotional outburst towards Mary and thereby totally ignore the fact that Sam is also family and he was the major victim of the past events. Dean's monolog with Mary was as if Sam in general was dead, mute, invincible and therefor Dean had to be his voice, his advocate . The used argument, namely Mary was scared to confront Sam, makes no sense in the sense of 'drama / plot', because literally the conflict is kept out of the drama. But without a conflict there is no drama, hence no plot. The result is just a pile of senseless emotional gobbledygook.

That's why at the end of the pre-final episode 22, when Sam says, when walking into the bunker, she doesn't have to be scared of him, sounds nice, but this statement is a huge farce, but it's not only a farce, the made statement is without reason, because Sam still doesn't know and isn't aware, that all his suffering and guilt tripping is mainly because of Mary's deal with the yellow eye demon. Remember the whole season over Sam was kept out of the family plot. He is still kept in the dark, kept deliberately by Dean and Mary in the unknown. So why the hell are almost everyone cheering the family hug in episode 22? That scene is just portraying Sam as a utter fool. Because no one in the would, when walking into a seemingly private talk about one self, and than only hearing a partial of what is said, than say 'everything is okay'. No in reality the person would ask WTF is going on, wotcha talking behind my back! Again a great drama aka plot, just ignored and thrown away. Why? Why is Sam's inquisitive nature being reduced to blind ignorance?

Which brings me to episode 2 “Mamma Mia” where Sam says to Mary “Her being here fills out the blanks”. And this said without having even talked with her. Remember this scene happened after Sam was tortured and truly believed Dean is dead, and well Mary, hence once a dead mommy, who has than been resurrected. But nay why use such drama, lets ignore the elephant in the room, and let Sam say some emotionally senseless stupid stuff. Further let the viewers assume that Sam is now a mind reader. I mean to fill out the blanks, implies that knowledge / information has been transferred. And normally humans do this by communicating. But we viewers didn't see or hear Sam communicating with his mother. So from where did his enlightenment come from? And here IMO lies the major discrepancy or oddity of this season. It was very peculiar that Sam didn't even once articulate his emotional state and have an intimate clearing discussion with Dean or Mary. Or for crying out loud just being curious. So from where did Sam get his enlightenment to forgive Mary? We viewers had to guess and thereby interpreted Sam's presumed feelings, concerning his kidnapping, torture, believed dead brother and resurrected mother, therefor in the end we don't know nothing.

But than at the same time I'm suppose to believe, because shown in the pre-finale episode 22, that Sam had issues with being a leading figure. Really? And again viewers are cheering Sam's speech to the hunters, but I wonder why, it literally made no sense. Now since Sam didn't articulate in the season his lack of self esteem, one could than assume his insecurities could have been recognized on screen. Therefor the major question is, when during the season was his insecurity topic, hence plot, obvious? When Sam killed the monsters of the week, or when Sam saved the BMoL from the vampires and thereby killed the Alpha-Vampire? Even in the past he took the lead when necessary. So from where does his “its easier to follow than to lead” brain struck come from? There was not once an indication for such plot. So what was Sam's role in episode 22 than actually about?

This leads to the most interesting question of this season, why was Sam portrayed like a mute hero without a cause? Let's be realistic Dean had this season all major plot determining dialogs, dialogs that told us viewers in what kind of state of mind he was. We know the reason of why he was at first happy, than pissed and than forgiving with Mary. Frankly this mommy plot was utterly shoved into the viewers face. So, why was Sam placed onto the sideline? He ignorantly and nonchalantly accepted everything that was thrown at him. There was no necessity for SPN to neglect Sam's role in the family drama. Remember Dean, Sam and John and how dramatic these scenes were? How energetic they were? How Sam and Dean interacted in combination with their father? The exploding dialogs? By comparing these father scenes with the mommy scenes, one will clearly notice the difference in the trio their dynamics.

Sam the mute hero without a cause

The reason why I name Sam the “mute hero without a cause” is because a) he was kept silenced concerning his torture by the BMoL and Mary's deal. And b) what was this season his motivation to act? FYI according to Wikipedia “Motivation is a theoretical construct used to explain behavior. It gives the reason for people's actions, desires, and needs. Motivation can also be defined as one's direction to behavior, or what causes a person to want to repeat a behavior and vice versa. A motive is what prompts the person to act in a certain way, or at least develop an inclination for specific behavior.”

Therefor the question what motivated Sam this season is utterly valid. Keep in mind, Dean had Sam, Mary and the BMoL, these external factors were the cause, hence motivation for Dean to react and therefor to get heavily into action, hence attributes of a plot. But what about Sam? Every topic that could have been a cause / motive for conflict / drama and prompt him to react, like the BMoL, Dean, Mary or even Lucifer were from the beginning of the season, in a subtle manner kept away from him. It was as if Sam was floating in an invisible bubble. He was present, but nothing could or would touch / motivate him and therefor prompt him into action. Except for some heroic actions, that in contrast had nothing to do with his emotional state, his inner 'family' circle or the major story line, hence Mary, the BMoL and Lucifer. What an odd juxtaposition, on the one hand we have Dean who is obviously reacting because of obvious reasons, and Sam on the other hand who obviously doesn't react, even though obvious reasons are given.

Juxtaposition

This is in so far quite interesting, because SPN this season used in their directing mainly all kind of forms of juxtapositions. The most obvious one was episode 12 “Stuck In The Middle (with you)”. And as every film geek knows this technique (juxtaposition) is used in the 1992 film, “Reservoir Dogs” directed by Quentin Tarantino. A brutal torture scene is juxtaposed with the playing of a cheerful pop song, “Stuck in the Middle with You”, on the soundtrack. Soundtrack Dissonance is utilized to, in literary terms, pose a juxtaposition with the intent of making a thematic statement and/or widening our emotional distance to the events before us, thus allowing us to view the piece in a more removed, intellectual manner. And in the case of “Reservoir Dogs” Tarantino’s intend was to manipulate the viewers perception, namely by reacting positively to the pop song, the viewer was literally caught in the act of having 'fun' or 'enjoying' the brutal torture scene.

And in our case, the obvious contrast (juxtaposition) is not only Sam's internal (family) non-motivation vs his external (non-family) motivation. But this also could be seen in the episode 12 “Stuck In The Middle (with you)” at the beginning of the scene, when all where sitting at the dinner ordering their breakfast. The only one who didn't order food was Sam, and not as assumed the angel. Sam in contrast just complained about the bad WIFI connection. In retrospect it's conspicuous that Dean and the others at the table, except for Sam, were so keen, despite the comedic effect, that the angel, who hasn't the need for any food, orders himself a breakfast. Further the scene with Dean teaching the angel 'flirt' lessons appears actually fabricated. Simply because Dean knows (since Kripke era) how the angel reacts to women, and since than he never bothered to act in such 'pair off' manner with the angel. So why now and why in such obvious striking behavior?

A further oddity, namely what did Sam, by mentioning “I downloaded all the bunker’s files to a new archive,...” have to do with shown scene at the diner? Again it made no sense. The information given by Sam didn't correspond with the ongoing dialog at the table. Furthermore no one seemed to be bothered that Sam hadn't placed an order. Now (speculation) what if Sam, by saying something's wrong with the WIFI connection, it is really meant that Sam as a person, is literally not or loosely connected to his surrounding (reality)? This could in a way not only explain Sam's dissonance / contrast behavior at the diner, but also during the whole season. Saying he is stuck in the middle of, who knows, two realities, like a quasi hallucinogenic world and reality?

Brake onto the other side

What do I mean with the term hallucinogenic world. I know it's highly speculative, but just for a sec, lets get crazy. All episodes where Sam acts heroically appear peculiar, at first they are very Sam centric, than they contain Sam specific material, such as his psychic abilities, the 'yellow eye demon', his brother Dean, the death of his mom Mary and at last Lucifer. All these mentioned life events are perceived by Sam as something negative, something he until today still feels guilty about. Now what if Sam is 'hallucinating' these negative events into a positive event? Where he's not the freak, the failure anymore or something to feel guilty about, but in his mind he's the hero who saves the day, like the way he perceives his brother Dean. This could be the reason why Dean and Mary didn't react in a normal manner to Sam's heroic adventures. Simply because in reality, hence the real world they are not participating in Sam's hallucinogenic adventures, and why SPN canon is turned upside down. Or because he is still in the belief that Dean is dead, and everything we saw this season is Sam creating in his mind a world where he is able to save Dean and than thereby the day.

This thesis, namely Sam withdrawing into an imaginative heroic world, would correspond with the ending of episode 12x01 “Be Calm And Carry On”, where Sam after his mind was fractured (broken mirror), and than was defeated by his tormentor Toni Bevelle. Keep in mind, SPN didn't touch the kidnapping and torture subject after episode 12x02 had aired. It was miraculously (sleight of hand) kept out of the season's narrative.

Just so people can comprehend, according to Wikipedia a “Hallucination is a perception in the absence of external stimulus that has qualities of real perception.”

So therefor when a hallucination has the qualities of real perception, than the perceived hallucination IS perceived as reality. Now in our case interestingly enough hallucinations can also be caused by torture aka enhanced interrogation.

According to Wikipedia “"Enhanced interrogation techniques" or "enhanced interrogation" is a euphemism for the U.S. government's program of systematic torture of detainees by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), and various components of the U.S. Armed Forces at black sites around the world, including Bagram, Guantanamo Bay, and Abu Ghraib, authorized by officials of the George W. Bush administration. Methods used included beating, binding in contorted stress positions, hooding, subjection to deafening noise, sleep deprivation to the point of hallucination, deprivation of food, drink, and withholding medical care for wounds, as well as water-boarding, walling, sexual humiliation, subjection to extreme heat or extreme cold, confinement in small coffin-like boxes, and repeated slapping.”

Now interestingly a lot of these mentioned torture methods that can cause hallucinations, including the drug induced torture, were used by the BMoL. But oddly enough, again, Sam's kidnapping and torture were after episode 2 “Mamma Mia” never brought up again, just ignorantly glossed over. Why? Why invest screen time and money for such sensible topic and than not dramatize and exploit it for a plot? Why such obvious wast of opportunities? Or Dean and Sam being prisoners of the government, held in a secret black site...why show and invest in such drama, but than utterly ignore it. This is more than bad screen writing. This has method, or as Hamlet would put it “Though this be madness, yet there is method in’t.”

One of the many explanation I have, but the only one that in a way or other makes sense is that I assume the hallucination we saw in episode #2 is still on going. This could explain Sam, Dean's and Mary's truly not normal / familiar behavior. Lucifer's sudden disinterest for Sam, hence his deliberately designed customized metaphysical vessel. The angel Castiel truly stupid and incoherent behavior. Or the BMoL's incoherent illogical management as a secret / occult society. Seriously their actions didn't make any sense. Just think how stupid this appears, a paramilitary unite 'guarding' an occult society their HQ, hidden in a warehouse. Because, remember Magnus, the American MoL? What a contrast, he hid a whole mansion through magic, and these Brits use hand scanners. Makes you wonder. But than Mrs. Hess demands a portal to escape. Any logic there? Nope, thought so. Since this season makes absolutely no sense, further is filled up with illogical actions, one could come to the conclusion that what we have seen until now could be an on going dream, hallucination or an AU. I mean there must be a reason for the pile of such incoherent stupidity.

Further this 'hallucination' scenario could also in a way explain the use and odd cross reference to the barb wired bat (Lucy) used in the series “The Walking Dead”, which is a significant symbol used by the main antagonist Negan of the show, played by Jeffrey D. Morgan. Who once played the father figure of Dean and Sam Winchester. Does anybody get the weirdness of this scene? I know the scene appeared to be funny, but the ca 3 minute scene doesn't justify the effort and costs it took to purchase the copyrights from FOX to use this world wide known iconic prop. Furthermore Dean saying (paraphrased) “their dad would have loved the bat” makes no sense. Because John Winchester an ex-marine would have never used this blunt instrument to fight off zombies. He as a marine would have known, as Dean should have known too, that using this blunt weapon would cost far to much energy to fight off zombies than in comparison to a sharpen machete. The bat used in “The Walking Dead” is a symbol of ultimate archaic ruling man power, not more. So, what was this scene all about? Why the need to portray Dean as a silly amateur, or a Neanderthal? Which BTW is interesting, because the only ones who think hunters are Neanderthals, are the BMoL.

Though this said, on the other hand I still have to accept, that a rose is just a rose, meaning the season was just simply badly written. If so, than dear SPN crew please contact some IMO awesome fan-fiction writers, they know where the priorities lie and also astonishingly have knowledge of the supernatural realm, they could save the day, because thanks to them I'm still in love with the show.

Much ado about nothing

A further reason why I didn't like the season and both end episodes 22 & 23 is because IMO major made dramatic statements haven't at the end been solved. Not even one single hint was given. We still have absolutely no clue who the old men in London are and if they are still in the game, or why SPN mentioned to us that Toni Bevelle has a son. Now was this given information important or just wasted screen time? Nor do we know what the reaper Billie's 'cosmic consequences' are.

Of course I grasp the idea of suspense, but just by mentioning a threat or lethal consequence, and than in the end deliberately ignore these dramatic statements, can't uphold the suspense. In my case I got annoyed, because for example I wanted to know more about the BMoL. And the used BMoL protagonists Mike, Toni and Fetch didn't satisfy my curiosity. Their motive and actions made no sense. Actually I thought they were utterly boring, incoherent, their actions inconsistent and therefor confusing.

The same with the reaper Billie. Without any storyline, the reaper just appeared and than was eliminated. Just like that... oh. Than the cosmic consequences vanished into thin air, to never been seen or heard again.

As I stated at the beginning of my text, these not solved 'mysteries' could be revealed in the coming season 13. Personally I doubt it. Because it wouldn't be the first time that SPN mentioned something that would have devastating effects, but than would just ignore it.

NO sympathy for the devil

Why SPN recycled the Lucifer story, would be a good question asked at a convention or PR conference, but sadly a majority of con goers and so called journalist are mainly occupied with trivial stuff than content concerning the plot of the show. So probably we will never find out what SPN was thinking when recycling, thanks to Carver, the utterly boring and unnecessary Lucifer character. But than one has to thank SPN for the worst portrayal of the diabolical figure, because now when ever Lucifer is mentioned and shown in the series a collective yawning can be heard throughout the whole SPN audience. So, yeah SPN you've done a good job.

In retrospect SPN had portrayed over 11 years three characterizations of the devil. At first we saw Kripke's fallen angel, depicted as a truly diabolical Satan. Disguised as an understanding passionate angel of light, but than when light fell on to it, the cunning, narcissist nature of this heavenly creature broke through. Than we had Carvers humanized devil, a heavenly metaphysical entity portrayed in a human-ish manner with preadolescence daddy issues. The philosophical fallacy should be obvious. And now the show runner duo Singer & Dabb took Carver's humanized Satan and presented it having an existential midlife crisis. By demystifying the metaphysical entity, SPN turned the once intriguing heavenly being into an everyday soap opera-ish boring dude.

Now I have no explanation for why the show runners made the decision to portray the devil in such boring fashion. Especially putting so much time in it's vessel career. I mean the whole ensnaring of the singer Vincente was a total copy of how the fallen angel tried to lure Sam into saying 'yes'. Therefor no big surprise, nothing new. So why the need to waste screen time for an already known story? I mean SPN can't be that stupid? Or why at the mid season finale focus on the devil and his actions, that had absolutely nothing to do with the main protagonists of the show? We can assume that the show runners Singer & Dabb are utterly aware that the audience is more interested in the brothers their doing than in a side character.

The whole devil story line was IMO boring, illogical and a waste of time. Simply because it didn't involve the Winchesters, didn't correspond with canon and it was utterly predictable. Now about the devil it's spawn. This contradicts the whole SPN canon. Just think about it, if the devil can produce earthly baby devils, just by having sexual intercourse with human females, than why didn't it do that at the beginning of the show, when Sam, his anointed vessel, said no. Just imagine, 12 years later hundreds of supernaturally grown up devil juniors roaming the planet, causing havoc. This truly would have been the Armageddon.

The Finale

IMO the final of the season was utterly unnecessary and incoherent. What did the final have to do with the Winchesters? Or in any fashion with the season? Correct absolutely nothing. So why should I as a fan of the Winchesters be excited for the coming season 13? Reality is, I'm not. Sam has encountered so many supernatural entities and mastered them, so why should this devil spawn encounter make any difference? Well it would have made a difference if Sam and Dean would have been emotionally involved with the Lucifer story instead of the IMO boring angel Castiel. And sorry to say but their mom Mary wasn't the hit either. So, she suddenly got into mommy feels after Dean confronts her in her own head, and than wants to 'save' her sons. Seriously, why now?? And why in such stupid manner? Oh,... I'm gonna take those brass knuckles an gonna smack the devil it's face.... how pathetic, mini muscle without brain.

Than the demon Crowley's so called engagement and following sacrifice at the finale. Where was the story? The whole time the demon is playing preadolescence kinder-garden games with the devil, but without the involvement of the Winchester, and now the script writers are suddenly reminded that there are the Winchesters, hence THE major and only protagonists of the show, so lets let Crowley interact with them. Geez what an awful plot-less story, no wonder M. Sheppard was pissed. And than, what are they now doing, exact, namely nothing, but than, oh, oh, they 'find' (face palm) a lead and than the opportunist narcissist demon sacrifices it self to save the Winchesters. WTF! Who's writing these stories, a three year old? What happened to motivation, common sense and logic? And Crowley's ritual, how stupid can stupid get? The demon is literally dead, hence an evil spirit possessing a dead human body, so how can the ritual function when something living(!) has to be sacrificed? Sure it used the angle blade, but it only thereby destroyed it's own essence, not more.

But the highlight was the most boring, and I mean utterly boring scenes with the once interesting, but now useless angel Castiel. Really? This was suppose to be the grand finale of the season, a moronic angel playing a confused guardian of a stupid woman who can't comprehend that she's carrying the devils spawn. A creature who's life giver is a metaphysical being, who wants to annihilate humanity!

Conclusion

I deliberately didn't touch the 'Mary' story line, simply because IMO her story was unnecessary. Further destroyed the whole once known SPN concept. Her made into a über-hunter is just serving the momentary ruling ideology which lacks reason. Just try to comprehend the concept SPN is trying to sell. The female actor Samantha Smith is 47 years old, is playing a ca. 25-28 year old woman, who is a über-awsome hunter than her 37 and 34 year old sons. Now how can I, as a 49 year old woman, take her serious? I can't sorry. Every time I saw her fighting and running around like a tough gal, I had to laugh. It was so pathetic. The same with the character Jody. The feminization of SPN is truly questionable. Once SPN was balanced there where reasonable female characters like Helen and Jo but also equal male characters like Bobby and Rufus. But now we only get to see tough über-women and dumbed down men.

A long time ago SPN was about two brothers fighting against all odds and their inner conflict. Great classical story telling. Like a modern version of the Greek and Roman mythology Castor and Pollux. Drama at best. But now IMO SPN season 12 was without substance just serving some loud fanatic fans, and Hollywood / corporate media's post modernistic nihilistic ideology, that in it's core simply neglects reason. So, in the end I can only hope that the following season will at least have a plot, where BOTH major protagonists are involved.

SPN Season 12 Overall impression

SPN Season 12 Overall impression

On tumblr someone mentioned the final of season 12 “Is a super emotional and underrated episode and people need to talk about it more.” And I thought, geez the SPN final was the worst and zilch brother emotional final I ever witnessed.

Ya see, good ol' perception. The OP loved it, I disliked it. Now as wished I'm gonna “talk” why the final IMO was the least emotional and surly not underrated episode SPN had produced in the last 12 years. So yes critic is allowed, because we KNOW SPN can do better and has done better. Oh and BTW to critic a film or book has absolutely nothing to do with “hate”. In general, story telling mediums have rules to follow, dynamics and canon that have to be uphold, because without a decent dynamic and canon a story will eventually turn into a boring, confusing tale and therefor will lead to an inevitably disappointing event.

I assume this post can be listed under 'very, very unpopular opinion', simply because I didn't like the last two episodes of season 12, actually I didn't even like the ending of season 11. But season 12 and it's ending were utterly preposterous. I don't even know what happened with the show that once was labeled “Two brothers on a road trip and their supernatural adventures”.

At first, what was this season all about?? Seriously, this is a legit question. People on tumbler and other social media, with a normal functioning mind were repeatedly asking this simple question. And interesting enough until the final aired and after, no one could satisfyingly answer it. And please don't come with “It's about family” that argument is utter BS. Already lacking a plot is a major issue. Lets face it, a story without a major plot maybe in a sense poetic, but on a long going TV horror/supernatural show, this sans-plot issue will cause confusion, which will lead inevitably to disinterest. 

The sans-plot issue

This may sound contradicting but many different plots do not make one whole plot. Remember season 12 started with the resurrection of Mary, the appearance of the British Men of Letters and Lucifer set free. Lots of plots, but in the end we got nothing, the conclusion of all three plots were missing, well except for Dean's mommy issues and at the end we got lots of diapers.

The Mary sub-plot turned out to be a pure Dean plot. From the beginning to the of the end of series, it was Dean who was mainly interacting with Mary. His conflict, him realizing how reality collides with illusion, produced the needed drama for the plot. Which was great, but prolonged over 23 episodes can be boring. Especially when the other major protagonist is kept out of the drama. The season started and ended with Dean having a heartwarming dialog with his mom Mary. There was a concrete narrative arc with a beginning, a middle, and an end. A line of inquiry was opened and pursued, and ultimately a conclusion of some sort was reached. So, here no complaints, except for the obvious fact that Sam was obviously kept out of the story. Sam was only partly interacting in Dean's plot. And this circumstance was utterly disturbing and annoying. Simply because Dean and Mary were mainly talking about Sam and his in the past endured experiences, but WITHOUT him. WTF? It was as if Sam wasn't present, or his conflict concerning his mom, whom he never met, were not important enough. Now this could be a “plot” device for the coming season, or just, as some say bad writing.

The British Men of Letters sub-plot. This sub-plot was beyond sub. I have no idea what SPN wanted to achieve with this 'much ado about nothing' plot. The BMoL started out really cool and thrilling. At the beginning they were the villains SPN didn't have since the time of the Leviathans. Than already after the second episode the BMoL plot started to morph into a soap opera. Saying the assumed believed plot disintegrated into nothing. Drama without a cause, content and common sense, hence soap opera. Sorry, but Mary believing the BMoL sales pitch, AFTER, seeing with her own eyes what they did to her youngest son, is the most unbelievable and absurd story I ever saw on TV. And the used argument for her joining the BMoL, namely trying to achieve the world peace for her sons, is just idiotic. And than Sam joining these clowns, because also believing the world peace garbage, AFTER they shot, kidnapped, physically and psychologically tortured and mentally raped him, is just awe, unbelievable. Geez I can't smoke that much weed to make sense in this stupidity. And viewers are buying this shitty plot. But the end of the BMoL is worth a double face palm. Seriously, I'm suppose to believe that a handful mediocre hunters, even though Sam (after changing his mind...sigh) was leading them, could over run and eliminate highly trained and highly equipped mercenaries and their HQ? Really?? Give me a brake. But like I mentioned before, the oddity could be a relevant plot devise for the coming season 13, or bad writing, but who knows?

The Lucifer sub-plot. What plot? It, the angel cruising to one body (rock star) to another (president), because of wasting human vessels, having an earthly spawn, than being captured by the King of Hell, which than can miraculously free itself, with his old familiar vessel. To end in an SPN AU. This is not a plot, simply because it was confusing, hence turned canon upside down and didn't in anyways emotionally interweave with the brothers, esp. Sam. The whole premiss of the show SPN was once, that Sam like Dean were designed by the heavenly realm, to contain the archangels Lucifer and Michael, to fight the apocalypse. And now it doesn't matter anymore? Since the Lucifer plot was deliberately separated from the main protagonists of the show, hence the brothers, and therefor lacking the emotional link (drama), e.g season 5, the sub-plot turned out to be irrelevant and therefor boring. 

 

Conclusion

My thoughts are just a compressed overall view of the whole season, seen as one piece. Of course there were some nice episodes, but this can't change the fact that season 12 as a whole was during and at the end confusing and incoherent, further deliberately neglected canon and utterly lacked the famous brotherly chemistry. And sorry the brother hug at episode 22 didn't rock me, it felt artificial. So, no points for that lousy spiel.

The obvious lack of Sam being interwoven in any of the plots is peculiar and conspicuous. Now this circumstance can be a hint that something bigger is going on, a foreplay for season 13 OR the character Sam, played by Jared Padalecki is being backout to give the character Dean, played by Jensen Ackles the possibility to be to the fore. In the end I don't know, all I know, the changes are obvious and IMO should be evaluated.

Since it's hiatus, a lot time can be spend with figuring out if season 12 was truly an awfully bad written season or if there is more to the story than meets the eye. It's just using ad hominem as an argument can't be the solution... and therefor I can't get rid of the feeling that what appears this season to be so obvious and disturbing, is the key to the true ongoing story of the Winchester odyssey. Lets not forget we are talking about the 'Supernatural'.

“The eye sees only what the mind is prepared to comprehend.” Robert Davies

(William Robertson Davies, He was one of Canada's best-known and most popular authors, and one of its most distinguished "men of letters") :D

SPN 12x09 Mature Thoughts

SPN 12x09 "First Blood" Mature Thoughts

Now after waiting around six weeks (were they 6 weeks?) and tumblr not helping much to overcome the hiatus blues, except for my 2 month old puppy, she helped me a lot. Side note who every gets a puppy, keep in mind they want 100% attention. Yep, not 99% they want it ALL! They are sweet little monsters. Thanks to Lotte I didn't have much time to ponder about the awkwardness of Supernatural. One could say a blessing and curse at the same time.

Back to the topic, “First Blood”.... contrary to the bee hive mind set aka unpopular opinion I wasn't very fond of this episode. IMO it lacked real nail biting tension. Seriously Sam & Dean were locked up in an US GOVERNMENT BLACK OP SECRET PRISON. No lawyer, no court, no warrant, no trial. And everyone acts like it's a normal thing in a so called FREE DEMOCRATIC society! What's wrong with you SJW's? This is utterly fucked up business. Or is it now US accepted common practice, to tolerate secret government prisons? To tolerate government torture? As a German this gives me the creeps, because this is how the academic world defines dictatorships. Which reminds me of President Obama saying “We torture some folks”... or President Obama's infamous “Kill list's aka Disposition Matrix”, hence KILLING people all over the world with out trial. And the only problem the US youth has is their pussy or dick? I hope one day the US get their priorities straight, because believe me, if not the US (Empire) is in big trouble. Saying, this could have been awesome nail biting episode, but nay lets ignore the elephant in the room.

Just FYI according to Wikipedia “Black sites operated by the U.S. government and its surrogates were first officially acknowledged by U.S. President George W. Bush in the fall of 2006. The International Committee of the Red Cross reported details of black site practices to the U.S. government in early 2007, and the contents of that report became public in March 2009.... An important aspect of black site operation is that the legal status of black site detainees is not clearly defined. In practice, inmates in black sites have no rights other than those given by the captors...The U.S. government does not provide information about the operation of black sites, and for a period of time did not provide information about the existence of black sites.”

And further about US government using torture, one UK judge observed 'America's idea of what is torture ... does not appear to coincide with that of most civilized nations'.

In retrospect THIS is what I had in mind when watching the brothers being held in a secret US prison, on US soil.... And how did SPN portrait this scenario? Sam is doing some work out and Dean appears to be a bit fustrated, so yeah it looks like they are very intimidated. Further by letting Mary and Castiel act in a calm and IMO boring fashion. I don't get it, the brothers are being held by the US government in a black site, with out legal trial and Castiel the non-angel is just sitting there counting the days and is not in any way furious how a so called free society can act in such manner? And Mary is literally more interested in getting the vampires killed than to investigate where her son's could be, and how it can be that the US government has the audacity to kidnap her son's and lock them away in Pinochet / Stalin death squad stile. But please buckle up because she is a fast driver, oh please give me a brake! WTF

Geez what kind of storytelling is this? Again it's like the beginning of the 12^th season, SPN starts with a very questionable topic, namely kidnapping and torture and than simply ignores it. Then it's the same here, a very questionable topic is being used as bait and than deliberately ignored. And the viewers are not bothered, not at all. As if such Stalin-isch illegal government actions are absolutely okay and utterly common in the United States of America.

I'm too old for this kind of bull shit.

Fast forward, we than get to find out that Sam and Dean had made a 'get out of prison' deal with the reaper Billie. Really? Is that all the SPN writers can offer? IMO a cheap move. But this zero fantasy act leads us to Castiels pep talk. Okay I get it, some viewers thought the angel saying out loud how he thought the 'Winchesters' are important for mankind, was a nice thing. Me, I thought how pathetic. Further what's wrong with this angel. In general angels are metaphysical beings and have absolutely nothing in common with earthly beings. So him not having so called 'wings' and celestial power anymore, is sans logic. Yeh, I know it's SPN cannon, but still it's utter crap, simply because SPN is trying to “sell” the concept of a humanoid celestial being, which is a contradiction and as I said before is utter BS. So, this what ever entity is hanging out in the bunker, not knowing what to do, even try’s to contact the DEMON Crowley for help, but Crowley refuses, and so he just waits. What's wrong with this picture? Correct Castiel is sitting in the middle of the worlds finest library of occult and metaphysical knowledge and does nothing. I mean how stupid can it get, all he would have to do is look for a 'finding or location' spell. But if the spell wouldn't have worked, than he could have contacted some other angels. Let's not forget there are other angel dudes out there. Remember angel radio? Seriously even my puppy Lotte is smarter than this metaphysical entity. And this circumstance leads to the major question, why this pathetic 'O Winchester' speech? Or was the scene only constructed to get rid of Billie the reaper threat and thereby reinforce Castiel's loyalty towards the Winchesters? Like I said a cheap move...

Alas the British MoL.... seriously using a 'satellite' device to locate the brothers? What's this a “Mission Impossible” crossover? What happened with magic and the supernatural per se, not hip enough? Okay the Brit MoL have their agents in high government positions, but isn't this the norm with high potential secret societies, hence no big surprise. Well, not for me. What are these Brit. MoL suppose to be? Because at the moment they appear to be like ordinary desperate headhunters. The torture didn't work, so now they chose the ol' fashion face to face recruitment tactic? Which begs the question why did they torture Sam in the first place? Because it seems they have no difficulty finding other US American hunters. Also the 'clean up' of the government black op team wasn't necessary, actually IMO when using simple logic, eliminating the government agents would cause more trouble than anticipated.

Why? First of all it's not stealth and it raises questions. The black op unite could belong to the US Army, Navy or Air Force intelligence, hence military. Military are hierarchical systems, which means, the companies, units what ever, do not operate on their own, they receive orders and act on their behalf. Therefor eliminating this unite will cause an investigation and evaluation of what had happened. Which means more military people are going to be involved. Further in reality this act will be seen as a terrorist attack on US soil, and as we all know this is a declaration of war and will not be ignored. Therefor SPN portraying the black op unite as a bunch of imbeciles just shows the official US propaganda (yes President Obama repealed the Smith Mundt act), namely downplaying the importance, influence and capability of the US Military and Intelligence agencies.

In general the reason for such 'downplaying' in the media is nothing other than to deceive the public. I mean lets face it, probably a majority here on tumblr doesn't even know that the USA is at war now for over 15 years. And is heavily bombing and invading with out the approval of congress BUT with the help of NATO other countries. So by portraying the military and their black op units as stupidos only fulfills the government agenda, namely to keep the war and militarization of the country out of the masses their consciousness.

About the brothers Sam and Dean. So SPN want's to make me believe that Dean, who was in hell and Purgatory, and Sam who was for centuries locked up together with Lucifer in the cage, who also endured painful supernatural trials which had caused his death and just not long ago was kidnapped and tortured by a psychopathic Brit. MoL. Hence now both are having issues with being locked up and kept in isolation by HUMAN BEINGS? Somehow the relations don't fit. Is SPN trying to tell me that being held by powerful mind bending metaphysical beings such as Alistair and Lucifer isn't that bad in comparison with being held by human beings. Okay... nope not buying that crap. Sorry, IMO it doesn't make sense. Further they had the opportunity to get free. Because lets be realistic, when they were brought to their cell, both were not shackled and only guarded by three not so heavily armed soldiers, so they could have used this 'unsecured' moment for their advantage. Just saying something odd is going on. Because truth is, the brothers are the 'James Bond' of the supernatural, they are trained to survive.

In conclusion this episode lacked common sense and was confusing, because the brothers and their allies were portrait in a fashion which contradicts their usual familiar motivation and behavior. Somehow I can't get rid of the feeling that I'm perceiving an alternative SPN soap opera universe. Where the major protagonist are portrayed in a sweet but mundane fashion and the antagonist are just plainly stupid.

See No Evil

SPN 12x08 “Lotus” Mature Thoughts

SPN 12x08 “Lotus” Mature Thoughts

The mid season finale of Supernatural was IMO unsatisfying. The narrative was incoherent and inconsistent which lead to utter confusion. Personally I don't know if SPN produced such episode on purpose, or not. Though I assume because of conspicuous editing and acting, further the use of in film usual symbols and signs, that there could be a reason behind the shown gobbledegook.

The continuity of awkwardness...

As a nerd of course I need reason and logic to comprehend why the shown episode couldn't evoke any emotional respond. Just by saying “bad writing” won't simply explain the nudging question why the SPN screen writers Buckner and Ross-Leming AGAIN, delivered this season such an awkward and bizzare episode. Remember episode 12x02 “Mama Mia”, also written by Buckner and Ross-Leming, and remember how disturbing this episode was? Correct, now I have written an extensive analysis (X) of this episode trying to prove my thesis, namely that the British MoL are still manipulating Sam's perception through black magic, and thereby are using Sam like a Manchurian candidate, to gain access to the US hunter community and further thereby collect their wanted information. The reason why I took my time to analyze both episodes, namely episode 12x01”Be Calm and Carry On” and 12x02 “Mamma Mia”, was because of the very obvious, blunt contradiction and obvious unfamiliar behavior of Sam and Dean. Further to show what we had seen, wasn't just happening by chance and bad writing, but that there was more to the eye that could be seen. And now again we are confronted in the episode “Lotus” with the same blunt unfamiliar confusing awkwardness as before, so oddly enough there is a continuity in the awkwardness, hence this circumstance can't be a coincident.

LOTUS

What an odd title for a 'Supernatural' episode, normally the used title would be a pop culture or literature reference, something modern to which the audience could automatically relate to. Now of course it could have been taken from Dean's plan to “Impeach LOTUS and find Rosemary's Baby“.

But as some of you out there know, there is also a plant named lotus. Hmm...therefor one could also question, what's so special with this shrubby plant of the genus Lotus and what does this Water Lilly have in common with Lucifer and the British MoL? I mean lets not forget these antagonist are the dominant and driving figures of the mid season finale.

Well you would be surprised, they truly have something in common, namely the altering of perception.

Now have you ever heard of the lotus-eaters also referred to as the lotophagi or lotophaguses? In Greek mythology the lotus-eaters were a race of people living on an island dominated by lotus plants. The lotus fruits and flowers were the primary food of the island and were narcotic, causing the people to sleep in peaceful state of dreamy and contented forgetfulness.

    c. 1901 illustration to the poem by W. E. F. Britten

     

Hence the Lotus fruit alters perception, like the British MoL did with Sam through the use of hallucinogenic drugs (magic) and thereby altered Sam's reality and Lucifer appearing as an Angel of Light and thereby altering his victims perception to gain their trust. But that's not all, the Lotus has also a symbolic meaning. In ancient Egypt the flower symbolized “rebirth”, and this also correlates with the shown narrative of Lucifer having an earthly human baby. Now by knowing the unknown 'hidden' symbolism and meaning of the given title “Lotus” the confusion aka lack of clearness gets a little bit clearer and comprehensible.

“All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream.”

Edgar Allan Poe

… a dream within a dream, thank you Mr. Poe, because precisely this is my thesis of what the story arch of season 12 could be, namely by braking Sam's mind in episode 2x02 “Mama Mia” the British MoL created a highly sophisticated hallucinogenic magical dream world. I mean lets not forget the major question, namely why were the British MoL investing time and energy in torturing and interrogating Sam? Than they just let him go, in the belief that all was just a misunderstanding and overreaction of Lady Bevelle. And the only reaction of the viewers was to say “bad writing”, oh come on, seriously?

Further why I assume this all to be a dream in a dream is the contradicting and inconsistent use of the supernatural in the show 'Supernatural' furthermore the obvious dumbing down of the major protagonist Sam and Dean and of the supernatural creatures such as the angel Castiel and the demon Crowley.

For example why didn't Sam and Dean just summon Lucifer? Remember in the old days they summoned all kind of archangels and even Death. Now oddly enough some wonna be satanist moron was able to summon Satan. But not the Winchesters?

  Remember these morons in "Rock Never Dies"?

Or when they were like cute secretaries researching on their laptops in the BUNKER(!) how to get to the possessed president, now what was utterly wrong with this scene? Correct, they are sitting literally in a bunker filled with highly potent occult literature! Books filled with tons of high magic spell's for the use of summoning, deception, manipulation, hence mind bending techniques! Interesting enough this most surreal scene correlates with what Tony Bevelle said to Dean in episode 12x02 “Mamma Mia”, Lady TB: “Gentlemen. So, to recap -- you live in the Men of Letters bunker, awash in the world's greatest collection of occult knowledge, and yet you know nothing." 

Or why are the angel Castiel and the demon Crowley portrayed like comedian figures, but than not? Their actions seem contradicting, on the one hand the angel and demon act like supernatural entities, than not, than a little bit, or not. It's like trying to square the circle. For example the angel Castiel can't sense Lucifer, but can receive “angel radio”? Okay, put into relation, Castiel the angel can't in any ways sense Lucifer/Satan the father of lies and destruction, a chaotic celestial being, a powerful seraph who absolutely and utterly hates mankind, who is full of utter rage (which is BTW spiritual energy), BUT can sense, because of angel radio, when Satan's corrupt sperm hits the human female's ovum?

Further, when only focusing on the bunker scenes, they 'feel' and 'look' odd, untypical for the show. The one scene ends with Sam saying “Plan C?” and the camera than turns to Castiel showing him dramatically at loss. Editing / cut. The next scene we see they are still at the bunker and Castiel is serving coffee, thereby he receives angel radio, the brothers get to him, the angel than reveals, even for Castiel in a awkward scripted manner, what he had 'heard' and than the brothers, when hearing the news, over react actively stunned. The whole scene in it's drama looked effectively like a Telenovela. The script, the camera close ups and the obvious over acting, all together seem to be like “Changing Channels”. What are we watching? Angelos TV, capitulo 666 “El Diabolo!”? 

    "Lucifer is dating?"

Back to the brothers and the British MoL, the peak of awkwardness. Why did Sam call the BMoL? There was no motive for such action. Since episode two “Mamma Mia” the BMoL were only once mentioned but than shoved under the rug. Further objectively Sam didn't need the BMoL, a) he had the knowledge of the Bunker and b) he has Dean, an angel and demon on his side. The only explanation could be, he is still under their spell.

Another conspicuousness, the brothers were portrayed in this episode like gophers. In general the known and famous familiar interaction was utterly missing. They were on scene but actually not.

Or the entrance of Mr. Ketch onto the scene was a 1:1 remake of Dean's appearance onto the Stull cemetery at “Swan Song”.

But the most disturbing and awkward scene was Mr. Ketch's monolog. Seriously what he said was utter bull shit.

Namely on the one hand Mr. Ketch colorfully elucidates towards the brothers that he and the BMoL are only in the USA to help the US hunter community in their effort in fighting the 'monsters'. Now on the other hand we viewers know what this truly means, i.e episode 12x04 'American Nightmare' killing off the young psychic Magda. Further he says the BMoL are not following the Winchesters, but we viewers again know it's the opposite, remember the scene in 12x03 “the Foundry” where Dean is admiring a motorcycle, well this was Mr. Ketch his bike. So it is very obvious that Mr. Ketch is deliberately lying or deceiving the Winchesters. Therefor his remark that Sam through his (disconnected) call had triggered the BMoL to follow the brothers, is just plainly false. Further Sam called the BMoL when he was at the bunker, so Mr. Ketch must have already been near or by the bunker in Lebanon, from where he had than directly followed the brothers to Indianapolis. Furthermore how did Mr. Ketch know Deans admiration for the grenade launcher, it would only make sense if Mr. Ketch was present during the Winchester their “Thule” hunt (episode 12x05).

Than Mr. Ketch says something very significant, namely how the British MoL have “spent years blending sorcery and technology.” Precisely here the brothers ears should have prickled by such nonsense. Plainly said, sorcery is nothing other than the use of magical powers that are obtained through evil spirits. Hence black magic. So Mr. Ketch literally said the BMoL have just only up dated their black magic powers. And the thereby used 'technology' is actually irrelevant, well actually technology contradicts magic. Hence magic is based on metaphysics (supernatural) and technology is based on materialism (natural). Further changing a vampires DNA is in broader sense an alchemical process and has nothing to do with sorcery. And exorcisms are the opposite of sorcery, namely the expulsion or attempted expulsion of a supposed evil spirit from a person or place.

Now I don't know if Mr. Ketch has absolutely no clue of what he is talking about, or if he is only fooling / deceiving the brothers. Again altering perception. Bothersome though is, the Winchesters and the angel should have noticed the fallacies. And this brings me to another point, namely how does it come that he coincidentally has a 'devise' in the trunk, that oddly enough fits the needs of the brothers? Just take a look at the case in the pristine trunk. There are only two items, and just by chance one of the two items fits the needs of a non existing plan?

Despite the obvious contradicting monolog of Mr. Ketch, the editing was quite eyeopening. It was suddenly at night. NOTICE: the BMoL Bazooka rescue scene happened during the day at broad daylight! And now they, Sam, Dean, Castiel and Mr. Ketch, are in the woods, at the middle of the night. Than the next scene it's daytime. This is an obvious brake, a deliberate editing of the temporal continuity. Like in episode 12x02 “Mamma Mia” where the same obvious editing was made. So it seems, what we are perceiving isn't actually what is happening. No wonder confusion is the name of the game. This could also explain the contradicting / confusing(?) narrative in the shown scene. 

 

               Day & Night

Now there were more obvious contradicting and incoherent scenes in the episode, but to mention them all would bust the post. But if you want to know which ones I mean, just ask. All in all I'm not quite sure if these contradictions were made deliberately or are truly just 'bad writing'. But I tend to the former, because in the end we still don't know what this seasons major story arch is.

Lets not forget confusion is still the name of the game....or are we only being deliberately distracted? Because oddly enough the synonym of confusion is distraction. And the definition of distraction is according to Wikipedia “...the process of diverting the attention of an individual or group from the desired area of focus and thereby blocking or diminishing the reception of desired information.”. This leads us however to the use of distraction or misdirection in magic, because as we know the British MoL are masters of black magic. In his influential and scholarly The Encyclopedia of Magic and Magicians, pg. 232, copyright 1988, author T.A. Waters wrote, "Misdirection is the cornerstone of nearly all successful magic; without it, even the most skilled Sleight of Hand or mechanical device is unlikely to create an illusion of real magic."

And creating an illusion of real magic is nothing other than the re-framing or manipulation of perception.

And precisely this is what we got, namely an episode full of misdirections. And the major reason why I deliberately ignored the Lucifer scenes, they were in the end irrelevant. The Lucifer scenes IMO were the distraction. And according to Wikipedia distraction is nothing other than “ ...the process of diverting the attention of an individual or group from the desired area of focus and thereby blocking or diminishing the reception of desired information.”

In the end it could be all or nothing....

Sam is NOT addicted to demon blood.

 

Since the last episode 12x04 aired I'm repeatedly seeing post's and gifs with Sam's supposed addiction, and this is getting annoying.

Seriously, why don't people get it?? Repeating illogical statements will not make them suddenly logical. Never heard of 'molecular biology', 'genetics', 'genome'?? Nope?

Now please, again Sam is NOT, I repeat NOT addicted to demon blood.

Why?

Sam wasn't addicted, because the corrupted demon blood was needed to transform / mutate Sam genetically into a supernatural entity. This has nothing to do with drug abuse, this is about manipulating the human genome aka the genetic material of an organism, and transforming it into a NEW METAPHISICAL BEING / ENTITY. And by being a metaphysical / supernatural entity Sam gains than through his supernatural-being new strength’s, simply because there are no earthly material limitations anymore, to which we humans are bound to.

And Dean has no clue, because he has no clue of how biology and the metaphysical realm functions and therefor just parrots the lies the angels (aka metaphysical beings, duh) dictate him. The angels were scared, because Sam would have been UNIQUE, an one of it's kind supernatural-human being that can directly interact between the dimensions. Remember Sam was suppose to reign hell, but not as a 'normal' demon in a meat suite, but as a mutated human demonized Sam in flesh himself.

What Dean only had done, by forcing Sam to stop taking the corrupted blood, was nothing other than forcing Sam's supernatural-genome to transform back into it's natural-human form.

So Sam's compulsive need for the corrupted blood, was nothing other than his metabolism telling him it needs more corrupted blood to process the metaphysical transformation. Ergo NOT addiction but METABOLISM aka the set of life-sustaining chemical transformations within the cells of living organisms...Capice? 

 

In general blood is a biological data carrier, it contains ALL genetic information, and is therefor always UNIQUE, and PURE. Hence blood is much more than a 'type'... it's life!

Demons on the other hand are metaphysical utterly rotten, twisted, nefarious and eon old incorporeal entities, and the moment they possess a human being aka meat suite, they literally overthrow / conquer the biological human system and mind for their needs, and thereby the once unique and pure human, not only gets mentally but also physically corrupted. And that includes also the blood. The human blood now contains new information, has been altered, rewritten and is therefor corrupted. The definition of corrupt is according to Merriam Webster dictionary “to change (something) so that it is less pure or valuable / to become tainted or rotten”. And that is what the corrupted demon blood did, it tainted, changed Sam's DNA.

And precisely this is what Sam tried to say to Dean in season 4x04 “Metamorphosis”

SAM: “I've got demon blood in me, Dean! This disease pumping through my veins, and I can't ever rip it out or scrub it clean! I'm a whole new level of freak! “

And season 8x21 “The Great Escapist”

SAM: “(...) I remember... thinking, uh, I could never go on a quest like that. Because I'm not clean. I mean, I w— I was just a little kid. You think... maybe I knew?”

So, literally when Sam is saying “I can't rip it out or scrub it clean and I'm not clean” than he is telling Dean his blood, his genome has been corrupted, is tainted, has been deliberately changed by the demon Azazel. Therefor to say Sam is addicted, is utter nonsense, and very ignorant, simply because a drug no matter if legal or illegal doesn't CHANGE the blood, human genome (the genetic material of an organism) and therefor can't be simply taken out by withdrawal.

Further by saying “I'm a whole new level of freak” Sam is literally telling Dean he does not belong to the human NORM / standard anymore. Hence saying the standard medical methods do not apply to him. The definition of 'freak' according to Merriam Webster dictionary is: “one that is markedly unusual or abnormal”. Saying Sam is because of the manipulation of his blood, not human anymore but a supernatural entity. So it makes absolutely no sense to say he is addicted.

And precisely here lies the dilemma of our time, we get ideas from ancient metaphysical texts, written by individuals whose worldview and perception were determined by metaphysics and than try to push, shove these highly complex and advanced philosophies into a narrowed empirical materialistic mind set. And the result is as we can see incoherent and incomprehensible.

Therefor please, stop regurgitating the angel propaganda or Dean's incapability to comprehend modern molecular biology.

- Master of Reality - SPN 12x01-02 analysis

- Master of Reality - 

 SPN 12x01-02 analysis: Symbols & Editing

 

 "The true skill of the magician is in the skill he exhibits in influencing the spectators mind." (Dariel Fitzkee, Magic by Misdirection)

 

I know for some out there the analysis is going to be too long and too much to read. But to prove that very obvious 'strange' things are going on in the show, one has to go step by step, and dissect the shown events and used film techniques. Now of course one can say the scriptwriters and prep department are stupid, and thereby deliberately ignore the given hints, but than this kind of argument ad hominem only proves how ignorant one self would be. And well, that's not me, I have been literally conditioned to scrutinize everything on information or knowledge that is given to me. Yeap that's what happens when one went through the post war classical trivium old school German education system. Therefor don't put the blame on me. :D

After watching the first two episode of season 12, I was honestly pissed off. Caught in an emotional roller coaster rid, with all the loops, ups and downs. I was mad, being duped to believe, after the disastrous Carver era, the new producers could truly create a show like it once was. But than after my emotional fit cooled off, reason knocked on the door and brought me to think about of what I truly saw. I watched again and realized there is more to the eye that can be seen. In general lets not forget the show 'Supernatural' is about the supernatural.

How could we know? Simple by listening very carefully, and observing / reading the given signs and symbols seen in the show. In general TV and film are full of them. The reason is quite easy, in a very short time information has to be transmitted. The tricky thing of giving information though, the depicted information can by the viewer be acknowledged consciously because of knowledge but also unconsciously. And the movie / show makers know this. That is why not only the scriptwriter's but also the editing, prep and settings in a film are as important as the actors. Therefore on film / TV absolutely nothing happens accidentally or by coincident.

- SAM & TONI BEVELLE- episode 12x01 'Keep Calm and Carry On' 

“So... we stop trying to break his body. We break his mind.” Toni Bevelle

 

This statement made by Toni Bevelle was the most significant moment in the first episode “Keep Calm and Carry On”. Why? Because it's one of the worst and horrific things a human can do to another human. A broken arm or bruises are visible and can be healed, put a cast on or band aid and in a couple of weeks the wounds are gone. But a truly broken mind is a scary thing, it can't be seen and can't be healed, there is no band aid that than can grant healing. A broken mind, stays broken, in time the mind will adopt the brokenness, but it will not heal.

Now my thesis is, the UKMoL created through magic a stage crafted alternative reality. Because lets not forget the main goal is to brake Sam's mind.

In the first episode 'Keep Calm and Carry On' after the physical torture had failed to brake Sam's strong will, Toni Bevelle and her assistant thug Watts evaluate the current situation and concluded, if their prisoner can't be physically broken, than his mind has to be broken. The viewer than sees Sam untied lying unconscious on the floor, he than gains consciousness, is stunned to be freed from the shackles and thereby he's aware something had been injected into his neck but also recognizes, he is being surveyed through cameras.

This is the beginning of a nefarious mind play, it may seem as if Sam had been freed from the physical shackles, which had restrained his body, therefor he could now take control of the situation, and thereby could actively determine his actions. But the cameras, the all seeing eyes, are the unseen shackles that now restrain his mind and passively control him. The effect thereby, the unseen control mechanism alter and determine now in a passive manner his cognitive performance. He is only given the illusion of being freed from his restraints but in reality the restraints have been utterly tightened. 

The next step of the pharmaceutical / mind torture begins with an obvious 'light' hallucination, Sam believes to see all the familiar dead friends and associates. Now some viewers mentioned, the seen hallucinations appeared to be odd, like old school film technique, and untypical for how Supernatural would normally depict hallucinations. I assume there is a reason behind the use of such kind of setting, the depicted 'old school' hallucinations, reflect precisely 1:1 what they are, namely Supernatural 'old school' familiar Sam's guilt complex themes. So, why the use of such setting? It could be to tell the audience, that what the viewer and Sam saw were not real hallucinations, but by the UKMoL deliberately created magical projection of the dead to initiate / trigger the mental brake down. Lastly Sam's guilt complex is the major driving force of his subconscious mind.

Sam than, after seeing and reacting emotionally to the projected / hallucinated dead, turns to the mirror on the wall and encounters his reflection, thereby he hears Dean's accusing voice in his head. In Sam's subconscious mind Dean is the guardian of his shame and guilt. This isn't anything new, the viewer knows how guilty Sam feels and who, namely Dean over years, in a constant manner subconsciously patronized this strong emotion. 

The mirror in this scene plays a major role, because in film mirrors are a symbol of the human psyche. Mirrors (and any other reflective material for that matter) are a well-used narrative tool for presenting the duality of characters on screen, whether they are protagonists or antagonists. In general mirrors symbolize the character duality between the conscious and subconscious mind. And broken mirrors reflect broken identity or multilevel identities. For example in episode 5x22 “Swan Song” SPN used a 'broken' and a normal mirror to portrait the multi-level's of Lucifer and Sam in one body. Since SPN used mirrors in the past to portrait the conscious and subconscious mind of it's protagonist, than one can assume in the episode 12x01, when Sam is drugged to the gills with hallucinogenics, the situation is similar.

By looking into the mirror Sam's subconscious mind reflects back to him, thereby his ego, the part of the psychic apparatus that experiences and reacts to the outside, tries to fight his triggered guilty subconscious mind and thereby forcefully punches his reflection, symbolizing how Sam is fighting against himself. The mirror brakes into multiple pieces. Hence Sam's strong willed ego just broke his secured and controlled subconscious mind, his broken identity is now shattered into multilevel identities, and are spread as mirror fractures on to the floor.

Again this concept of Sam's subconscious multi-level identities are nothing new, in 6x22 “The Man Who Knew To Much” and 9x01 “I Think I'm Gonna Like It Here”, there also the audience could witness Sam's inner struggle to take control of his fractured inner self. Trying to control his multiple alter ego's. An alter ego (Latin, "the other I") is a second self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or original personality. After braking the mirror, which had reflected his inner self, broken Sam than picks a mirror shard from the floor. This scene is very symbolic, simply because the viewer, like Toni Bevelle, starring at the monitor are simultaneously witnessing from an out side view, Sam's alter ego arising from the fractured mind. Sam's conscious mind knows he is being watched, therefor his alter ego's is also aware that they are being watched and passively controlled. Watched by Tony Bevelle, but also by the viewer. At this moment the viewer is sharing Toni Bevelle's position and perception, an outsider who through the monitor acts like a voyeur when watching Sam's torment in his cell.

The viewer see's precisely what she see's, like her, the viewer is glued to the screen, like her, the viewer is in aw when Sam apparently slices his throat with the picked up mirror shard. But because the pc monitor can only create an illusion of reality, Bevelle than goes down into the cellar, too see and check with her own eyes, if what she had seen on the pc monitor, is truly real. Which is a great little twist, the controller of the illusion has at that moment lost control of the illusion, is now unsure of what she had perceived is true or just an illusion, therefor takes a weapon to be secured, to gain back the feeling of control. In the cell(ar) she than see's with her own eyes, Sam on the floor lying in his blood. The moment when Bevelle encounters the assumed dead prisoner, the camera goes back and forth to the upper room where the monitor depicts the event. The audience is kept in and out of the scenario and is thereby forced to watch the encounter through two settings, namely in real as an omnipotent viewer over seeing the event, but simultaneously the viewer's perception is than limited only to perceive the following event through the monitor which in reality projects only the illusion of moving images. Here SPN deliberately manipulates the viewers perception, both viewed settings seem to be seen as a real observed event, but in reality it's an illusion captured in an illusion. 
 

The following scene shows the borders of reality and illusion become totally indistinct when Sam suddenly arises from the 'believed' dead and attacks Bevelle, his torturer. The viewer and Bevelle are stunned, to have witnessed, by the alter ego Sam a deliberately stage-crafted scenario. A conscious by the subconscious mind choreographed cold blooded mocked death scene, but also a revealing scene. The viewer now knows which alter ego is momentarily determining Sam's conscious mind, namely no one other than the familiar over-rational, controlling, goal oriented and non-empathic Sam. This über-Sam who is determined to survive, an alter ego who neglects moral and ethical boundaries. 

This über-Sam now takes control, confident and proudly reveals his mind play. Bevelle the creator of illusions got deceived by an illusion. But than über-Sam vice versa gets deceived by Bevelle, she also uses the illusion of death to escape her death. Significant here are the repeated themes of a false impression of reality. Über-Sam now overpowered, realizing he had lost the fight, mentally brakes down and yells out is anger and frustration, of still being literally locked up in the cellar, kept down under in the dark, utterly forlorn. Despite the highly emotional scenery, this scene has also multiple deeper meanings. At first there is a visual symbolism literally played out in front of the audience, namely a dark and light or hell and heaven metaphor. Which plays in Sam's case an important role. During the scene where über-Sam overpowered Bevelle, he is literally trying to get out of the dark by climbing up the stairs to the open cellar door into the light. Or the cellar representing the cage in hell and the stairway is the path into heaven. This is Sam's life in a nut shell. And the second metaphor is according to Carl Jung, the cellar of a house represents the subconscious mind. So what we are literally seeing is a vivid reflection of Sam's current state of mind, namely his subconscious mind is now broken, dark (blinded) and forlorn. 

The song that than underlines Sam's utter chaotic and hopeless situation, namely 'Solitude' played by Black Sabbath, is from the album 'Master of Reality'. And the master of reality is Toni Bevelle, who from the distance observes Sam and thereby has utterly control over his reality but also his illusions, hence she is the master of his conscious but also his subconscious mind. Master of Reality.

 

- DEAN & MARY & CASTIEL – episode 12x01 'Keep Calm and Carry On'

“Now, I'm gonna give you one chance -- just one -- to hand Sam back.” Dean

 

Now bear with me, because it's getting a little bit technical. 

Chronology and the change of familiar behavior will play a major roll in the Dean & Mary & Castiel scenes, also the coming episode 'Mamma Mia'. At first the shift of chronology is not as visible as one would assume. On closer examination though, one will notice some odd temporal anomalies. Something one wouldn't expect in a show like Supernatural. But when noticed, than they are remarkably striking, one therefor has to assume it was deliberately made. As I had mentioned before, almost nothing in film happens by coincident, it is mostly deliberately planed. The reason is, because film per se is edited. On its most fundamental level, film editing is the art, technique, and practice of assembling shots into a coherent sequence. A film editor must creatively work with the layers of images, story, dialogue, music, pacing, as well as the actors' performances to effectively "re-imagine" and even rewrite the film to craft a cohesive whole. Editors usually play a dynamic role in the making of a film. This brings us to continuity editing. In most films, logical coherence is achieved by cutting to continuity, which emphasizes smooth transition of time and space. However, some films incorporate cutting to continuity into a more complex classical cutting technique, one which also tries to show psychological continuity of shots. The montage technique relies on symbolic association of ideas between shots rather than association of simple physical action for its continuity. In conclusion, the noticed subtle continuity anomalies don't occur randomly, they are deliberately made to get the viewers attention, to make the viewer be aware that something strange (out of the norm) is happening in the ongoing narrative.

The most conspicuousness was Jensen's performance or Dean and Mary's behavior. In this case Mary is still an unknown factor to rely on, but not Dean. After 11 years the viewer knows and is familiar with Dean's major (human) characteristics. One of the many characterizations, is Dean's significant protectiveness towards his brother Sam, another, his skills in combat fighting, lets not forget one year in Purgatory, and his stubborn eagerness to get things done asap. He's a shaker and maker, period. Now if these significant characteristics suddenly change and Dean acts in a quit opposite manner, than the viewer would automatically, without deep thinking, notice there is a huge change / shift in the shown narrative, and would come to the conclusion that something out of the norm is going on. 

The setting starts with Dean finding Mary at night in the woods. After clarifying the obvious, the following scene shows them two sitting in a park on a bench. It appears to be early dawn, the park lamps are still on but it's already getting light outside. Dean's jacket is now covering Mary's shoulders. Nothing unusual, the temporal continuity is kept in line, first it's night than dawn, and the protagonist still wear the same clothes. A simple continuity editing. Than Dean and Mary calmly enter the bunker, noticeably Mary is wearing a new outfit. Therefor one can assume they had stopped somewhere to get Mary some clothes, which seems reasonable. 

Until than everything appears to be normal and coherent. Dean interacts with Mary, thereby he's trying to grasp the supernatural event, but also typically Dean, trying to take control in a positive manner. So far, so good, everything seems reasonable, but oddly enough during Dean's encounter with his mother and during their conversation, Sam didn't play a single role. He was only slightly mentioned. Which in retrospect is quite unusual, if one keeps in mind that Dean actually a couple of hours ago just said farewell to his brother and was suppose to die. Now wouldn't it be reasonable if Dean would have been a little bit anxious to get to Sam, to let Sam know he's not dead and and let him know Amara left them a surprise, because he knows Sam is in the meantime suffering and mourning his assumed dead brother? In my opinion the relations don't fit, it feels odd. First we had this highly dramatic, chick-flick sacrificial Dean saves the world event, all are left back in aw and grief. But than oh, Dean survives, than dead mommy comes along and now lets have a relaxed, long pep talk in the park and a shopping tour. The shown calmness doesn't fit the actual drama. Hence a significant brake in continuity, tempo and behavior.

The next significant oddness is when Dean and Castiel fight against the UKMoL thug Watts. I know a lot of viewers truly believe in the “women power propaganda”, but reality is, because of physic and biology (scientific facts) women are not stronger than man. Sorry, therefor this Watts thug beating up Dean, who is a highly trained combat fighter, is very questionable. I mean Dean fights against supernatural entities and survived Purgatory, and now he can't handle a female thug?

I grasp that the thug using warded brass-knuckles is able to knock out the angel Castiel, but did he completely lose his supernatural qualities when he got smacked by this women? Why is the angel pushing the van together with Dean into the bushes and decorating it with branches? He's a supernatural entity, he is not bound to earthly physics, why didn't he just zap the van away or supernaturally hide the van? Does this scene want to tell us that the angel Castiel has absolutely no mojo anymore? Now thanks to Mary the men are saved. Okay I get it, women and especially Mary are awesome, but why is she than having a mental brake down. Until than she was the furious mommy who wanted to get her son back, and now she remembers why she didn't want to hunt anymore? Again her utter mood change at this moment makes no sense, her son is still in dire straits, and she didn't kill an innocent person, she eliminated a threat, an aggressor, somebody who is involved in Sam's kidnapping. Further even if she doesn't like it, she is a hunter herself, she is aware of the consequences, so why suddenly the change of mood? But not only her mood changes but also the temporal continuity changes. Notice after the fight when the Impala drives off, it was broad day light, and than in the car it's suddenly night and in the off the viewer hears the same song that is played after Sam's brake down, namely the Black Sabbath song 'Solitude' from the album 'Master of Reality'.

In my opinion this can't be a coincident. We have in this episode two mental brake downs, namely Sam and Mary, further notice Dean and the angel Castiel appear to be a weak projection of the original. Seeing Sam's torture and Dean and Mary's interaction in context as one picture, than the major theme is than the manufacturing of reality. Hence who's perceived reality is the viewer actually perceiving? 

 

Episode 12x02 'Mamma Mia'

“Signs and Symbols rule the world not words or laws” Confucius

 

The following episode 12x02 'Mamma Mia' is overloaded with signs, symbols and awkward continuity editing. In my opinion actually to much to access, even for the subconscious mind. Therefor I assume that's one of the main reasons why this episode appeared for various viewers to be incoherent and therefor uncomprehending. At the moment I can't tell if it was necessary, not only to overload the episode with signs, symbols and awkward continuity editing, but also with all major actors of the show. Normally SPN would have it's leading actors Jared and Jensen and than approximately two or three guest actors in the show, but 'Mamma Mia' broke the SPN record. This episode must have been extraordinary expensive. Which means CW must have given it's approval to allow such expensive episode. So to say the scriptwriters Brad Buckner & Eugenie Ross-Leming alone had done an awful job is ignoring the whole industry behind the show and well the making of a show in general.

The episode 'Mamma Mia' starts with the usual recap of past episodes and thereby puts it's focus on Lucifer, Dean, Mary and Sam's torture, hence the viewer will automatically in a couple of seconds comprehend what major topic is going to dominate the coming episode. Naturally the viewer still has the last image in their mind of a broken Sam and Mary. The viewers emotions are already prepared to accept the worst outcome, simply because Sam is still kept as a prisoner of the UKMoL, and Mary is still deeply in thoughts of what her sons had become. 

But what follows is absolutely the opposite of what was expected. Namely Sam having a very vivid romanticized sexual relationship with his torturer Toni Bevelle. Shock and aw! The viewer is stunned. The setting appears to be real, Sam's reaction seems to be authentic, not imposed or forced. But than after a short while the viewers, as like Sam notice something is wrong with the perceived reality and finds out the whole scenery was an illusion, except for the in reality felt intimate interaction. 

 

- NIGHT & MORNING – episode 12x02 'Mamma Mia'

“An hallucination created by potion and powerful spell work.” Toni Bevelle

 

The viewer is now informed that Toni Bevelle has a profound knowledge of the occult and high black magic. Hence Potions and spell work, that can alter and deceive the mind in such realistic manner, show how powerful the UKMoL are. This leads us to the question why is the UKMoL investing such vast effort in getting information that could be easily obtained. Again the relations don't fit, except it's something personal between Toni Bevelle or between the UKMoL and the Winchesters or in general a grand deception. The until now unknown motive will probably reveal itself over time, but right now it's a fact that the UKMoL have resources and not only monetary but also esoteric power to manipulate reality.

The last time we saw Sam sitting brok-ish in the cellar on the stairs, but now he is chained to the chair. The continuity is interrupted. Why? Despite the crafted illusion, what happened in the mean time? How did she get this 6.4 foot man onto the chair and chained again? The viewer is aware that Sam is utterly broken, not only physically but also mentally, but still he wouldn't have simply obliged to her orders and death is not an argument that would make him do what she would force him to do. Therefor is the illusion, the crafted alternative reality still ongoing? Again which reality are the viewers actually perceiving? We had two settings, which one is the real one? 

Because the following monolog by Toni Bevelle is quite interesting. Further if one listens very carefully, one will notice the said, by any logic, doesn't match with the actual 'seen' narrative. Lets not forget she is momentarily braking Sam's mind, thereby she used hardcore magic, namely potion and spell work, so why is she than now saying “Sadly, I can't do the spell again. Your brain would liquify, which we don't want. I'll have to resort to less... pleasant methods.” 

The contradicting is simple, why begin with such elaborated spell if it in the end can't be utilized, and than go back to the physical torture, knowing that pain per se won't have any effect? Except, the created hallucination or alternative reality is still in process. And by using physical force again, she gives Sam the impression, the belief, the illusion the believed hallucination is over, even though it is still ongoing. Hence there are two basic principles of magical deception applicable to all types of deception and not just to those used by magicians. The first rule says that if the magician/deceiver doesn’t treat something as being important (in our case the hallucination / spell), then the one being deceived/victim will not treat it as important. This makes it easy to hide what must be hidden by paying less attention to it. The second rule is that deceiving somebody in the simplest way is best, because it doesn’t matter how they’re deceived, as long as they are deceived. Further according to bona fide magicians, magic is defined as a science and an art that causes change to occur in conformity with their will, meaning the sorcerer can in essence transform reality to his or hers liking usually in accordance with the laws of the universe.

And this, oddly enough leads us to the next Dean and Mary scene. I know, I know... I'm repeating my self, but it has to be said again, remember in film nothing happens by coincident. What the viewer sees on film has been deliberately edited, even the assumed errors, anti-climax or what ever.

The last time we saw Dean, Mary and Castiel in the Impala at night, all hanging in their own thoughts. Knowing that Sam is held in Aldrich Missouri. The following scene opens with Dean casually sitting in the bunker having a cup of coffee, in front of him on the table lies the laptop, and thereby talking to Castiel on the phone. Castiel is already in Aldrich, it is still night time, and he say's to Dean he will call back in the morning. 

The peculiar thing is, why did they drive back to the bunker? There is no logical need for the bunker. Why not go to a motel in Aldrich and start researching and searching from there, it saves time. Time is the most precious commodity, when some one is missing further injured. And why send the angel to do the foot work, until now Dean had never or seldom used the angel for such task? Than Dean talking to the angel about his insecurities towards his mom. Dean doesn't talk openly, and especially not with the angel, about his insecurities. This all is not how Dean in general would act, especially when knowing Sam is in danger. And the long time viewer is aware of this, and this is the reason why it feels utterly wrong. Jensen's performance, hence the whole scenario in itself acts like a symbol, a neon sign, it appears to be the opposite of what the viewer in such situation would expect, the tune of the setting is calm and slack not tensed and strained. I assume what has been shown is from someone else perception, someone who doesn't know Dean by heart and only guesses how Dean could act in such situation. Again who's reality are the viewers actually perceiving or WHAT reality?

The easiness of the scene, which contradicts the actual narrative, goes even further. Not only are Dean and Mary now at the bunker, but they are taking their time to get refreshed, change clothes and even get comfy. Mary arrives on the scene dressed in a bathrobe and asks in an obvious casual manner if there are any information concerning Sam. Why is she wearing a bathrobe? Again time is precious, ask any real police detective how every hour counts, whole police sequels conditioned the viewer to comprehend how important time is during a rescue mission, geez even films are based on this concept like for instance the movie “Taken”, which btw is titled in Germany “96 Hours”. 

The viewer is aware of the temporal continuity, it's still in the middle of the night, the angel Castiel was shown outside in the dark and he clearly mentioned he will contact Dean in the morning. The only reason for Mary to wear a bathrobe at this moment would be she want's to go to bed or take a shower and get comfortable. Even Dean took his time to change his clothes. Both are signaling they are not in a hurry. Further take their time to have an emotional talk. Where Mary than out the blue takes responsibility for what happened in the past with Sam. Hence, right at the beginning of the show, the viewer is informed, that Mary straight ahead takes responsibility for her actions. This tells / signals us, she is self-confident and accepts her wrong doing, without fussing around. But than again, the revelation feels displaced, such a catharsis would fit after a dramatic act. The dialog, their demeanor, Mary's confession doesn't fit into the setting or narrative. It's not the right time. It's like looking at a surreal scenery, everything is at place but it feels unrealistic. 

 

- DEAN and MARY – episode 12x02 'Mamma Mia'

- “He was a great father” - Mary

 The next scene with Dean and Mary gets even weirder. Dean, hours later, is still in the same position by the table, drinking coffee and still looking at the laptop. Was he sitting there all the time, not bothered or anxious, just staring at the surveillance videos? Further why isn't he gathering information about the UKMoL, I mean he is sitting in a MoL bunker, they are the enemy right now, duh.

This scene truly tells the viewer something odd is going on. Okay, Mary than walks easily into the room, now fully dressed. Dean than asks her how she slept. Right at this moment the viewer is informed that she indeed went to bed, further she answers Dean by saying, the whole time she slept she had dreams, dreams about John and how a great father he was. Notice again the tempo and dialog don't fit into the Sam rescue narrative, the rescue dynamic as well the brotherly dynamic is utterly missing. Further, notice how John is right from the beginning always on Mary's mind, not only conscious but now also on a subconscious level. John is Mary's epicenter. Not missing Sam, nor Dean. I will get into this obvious Mary / John topic in an extra separate analysis. Than like Castiel had said, he calls back in the morning telling Dean he found the location were Sam is being held. The temporal continuity is coherent, the angel is shown calling Dean at broad daylight. Finally (it took a while) Dean and Mary are on their way to Aldrich, Missouri. 

Another prove that the temporal continuity is coherent and at this moment of importance, can be seen after the cut, namely than comes a Sam scene, and attention please, notice what Toni Bevelle clearly says, right, good morning to Sam. Further she changed her clothes and is now dressed in a ladies suit. It is very significant how SPN truly tries to tell the viewer three times in a row it is 'morning' now. Hence Castiel says he will call back in the morning, Dean asking Mary how she slept indicate it is morning time and Bevelle says to Sam good morning. Such repeated elements in a film act as a motive / pattern and have a symbolic meaning. Motifs strengthen a story by adding images and ideas to the theme present throughout the narrative. And in our case the viewer is suppose to be truly aware of the given coherent time line. The image 'morning' time is the major key element in this episode. From the beginning of the episode until now the Sam, Dean, Mary and Castiel scenes followed precisely a coherent temporal continuity. This is important, so please keep in mind it is 'morning' time. Dean and Mary left the bunker during the morning time. 

 

- The Rescue Plot – episode 12x02 'Mamma Mia”

- “Dean?” - Sam

The following scene, Dean and Mary are in the Impala on their way to Castiel at Aldrich – ATTENTION – is now dark and nighttime!

A total brake in the temporal continuity! They are driving through the night, a rainy night. First morning than without any logical or natural reason it's suddenly nighttime. Similar to the last episode where the three dove off at daytime, but than – cut - it was nighttime. The perceived 'reality' changed. Now which reality is the real one? Is the 'daytime' the alternative reality and the 'nighttime' the original reality or vice versa? Or is the 'daytime' an illusion and the 'nighttime' reality or vice versa? Personally I can't decipher precisely which is which. I can only assume, based on intuition as a long time viewer, that the rainy 'nighttime' scene in the car, appeared to be the real McCoy. It seemed more authentic, further the rainy 'nighttime' scene mentioned for the first time Sam as an individual. Furthermore it's the first time, after Mary's resurrection, that she can not only see, but also feel Dean's expressed admiration for his brother. A significant and important brotherly emotion the knowing viewer until now had utterly missed. 
 

Fast forward Dean and Mary arrive at their meeting point where Castiel is already waiting. Notice, it's now daytime! Again in the car on their way to Aldrich it was nighttime, now at the farm it's daytime. The temporal brake has been reversed, the temporal continuity is now coherent again. And than as before the viewer is confronted with an awkward Dean.

 A Dean who ignores all strategic and tactical moves. A Dean who has issues with mommy, a trained HUNTER by his side. Who ignores given info for instance “the place is heavily worded”, and since Magnus and his grandpa Henry, he knows the MoL in general have all kind of heavy duty magical shit in petto. But beside these marginally contradicting behavior patterns, the most IMO disturbing scenery was Dean being captured and held by this estimated 5.5 foot skinny, on high heels, women Bevelle. Sorry, but something is awfully wrong here. Even with those lose shackles, which were loosely hanging around his wrists, he could have easily over powered Toni Bevelle. It's like in a dream where one knows one can't overpower the villain and thereby the loose shackles only symbolize the lack of strength and power.

 So there must be a reason for Dean's very obvious anti-Dean behavior. Another indication of Dean not being Dean was his lack of reaction when seeing Sam beaten and chained to the chair. Our familiar Dean would have been shocked and furious, not calm and sassy. Now because (anti-) Dean wasn't able to rescue Sam, Mary than saves the day by overwhelming Bevelle where than (anti-) Dean, who suddenly, after seeing mommy in danger, can free himself, than takes over. Knocks Bevelle out, and thereby unbinds the than during the fight used Chinese binding spell, and et voila, ta ta rescues a seemingly 'healthy' and 'cognitive', but still tied up Sam. To be than surprised by a new UKMoL player named Mike, who than excuses in a sophisticated manner Bevelle's naughty behavior towards Sam. And well Sam, beaten up, electrocuted, burned, suffering hypothermia, probably dehydration, who knows has hunger too, drugged up to the gills with hallucinogenics, potions and let's not forget the magic spells, notices with out any hesitation Dean and Mary right away, even though assumed dead, and than miraculously stands next to his rescuers as if nothing unusual had happened. Makes sense? Nope.

Okay, now a few viewers will say the angel Castiel healed Sam, which is a good argument, because Castiel heals the brothers all the time. Hence no big deal. Except a) why does Castiel have now angel power but the episode before, after the fight he lacked angel power. And b) the angelic healing process act was until now always(!) played out on screen or like in “Red Meat” indicated by being in a medical facility. Saying the viewer until now directly observed and thereby witnessed the healing process. However this time such angelic healing act wasn't directly witnessed, the viewer could only assume / guess / believe / imagine the angelic healing process took place. Consequently this unfamiliar non-acting can only imply something unusual is happening. The lack of Dean comforting Sam, than Sam calmly accepting Dean and Mary's existence without any mental difficulties and the non witnessed angelic healing are huge red signs signaling in my opinion a surreal SPN reality.

The temporal editing and illogical / contradicting performance signal in a bright fashion, that truly something is out of the ordinary. So to say the scriptwriters were incompetent, is simply not true, because the viewer got tons of hints and signals literally telling and showing the viewer that something out of the SPN norm is going on. Remember when Kevin was confronted with the Sam and Dean (demon) imposters? Remember what he said when asked how he knew they weren't the real brothers? Correct, he said the imposters acted too nice, they were too friendly to him. And in a similar way we have the same situation, but instead of too friendly and nice attributes, the viewer got a very obvious impassioned, weak and contradicting Dean and a fantastic, unrealistic roly-poly Sam doll. Hence something is rotten in Denmark.

- THE SUPREME ILLUSION – episode 12x02 'Mamma Mia'

- “... fills in the biggest blank” - Sam

As if until now the given hints, editing, signals and symbolism weren't enough, SPN goes even further in deliberately pointing out that something surreal, unreal is momentarily going on. Simply because SPN knows the audience will be unsatisfied with the seen 'brotherly reunion', especially after Jensen, Jared and Mr. Singer had openly announced, during conventions and press meetings, that the reunion would be totally awesome. Therefor the SPN crew is aware the audience would be displeased and well furious with the shown unfamiliar and contradicting event. To make sure the viewers truly comprehend, that the observed oddities were in fact really seen and not something based on some 'felt' feelings, SPN deliberately placed an object, that could have, by any means, never truly existed in the Supernatural familiar ongoing narrative, namely nothing other than the AU Camp Chitaqua photo in John's diary. The diary handed over to Mary by Sam.

Notice how Mary reacts, when opening the diary, she recognizes John's military insignia's right away. Hence the Marine Corps weapons (highest) qualification badge “Rifle Expert”, than under the badge follows the military ribbons (Bronze Star Medal / Purple Heart / MC Good Conduct / Vietnam Service Medal), than under the military ribbons follows a black & white photo of John in military outfit. These items are very familiar to her, bear precious memories of the past, of John, objects to which only she can relate too. For a short moment she closes her eyes and gasps, it hurts when thinking of the past. Than she moves on and finds next to John's photo another black & white photo of a group of men, armed with weapons in a non military style but guerrilla like fashion. She looks at it, but than visibly shakes her head, signaling the audience, that this photo doesn't tell her anything, there is no connection, no relation.

But in comparison to Mary, the audience(!) can relate to the photo, the long time viewer knows the connections, knows this photo depicting Camp Chitaqua, can impossibly exist. Because it depicts a non existing reality, an illusion, deliberately created by the angel Zachariah in season 5 episode 04 “The End”. Further an illusion or alternative reality, which only Dean and the viewer is aware of. THIS is the most ever amazing scene in the whole episode. The Supernatural crew is DIRECTLY corresponding with the audience. Actively telling the audience, what they had seen on TV, during this episode, is an illusion. Therefor to say the prep department made a mistake is quite ignorant. Because the photo is not a 'passive' decoration, just put in to fill the setting, it was deliberately placed as an 'active' prep, a 'silent' tool to enforce the ongoing narrative. Notice the protagonist Mary is obviously interacting with the prep, hence no accident. 
 
Despite the unreal photo of Camp Chitaqua, Mary and Dean have photo's of the past, to which they can relate to, photo's which validate their memories but are also a material object connecting to the past. A moment in time preserved on a piece of paper. Except for Sam, he has no pictures to which he can connect to. No material objects that serve as evidence his memories can rely on. In comparison to Dean and Mary, who are at the same moment looking at photos, Sam is lying on his bed and staring at the ceiling fan. Here in this scene the ceiling fan is the dominant object. At first the viewer sees the rotating fan, a fan whirling around and around without end. Than the viewer sees Sam lying under the rotating fan. But because of the circling propeller blades the view is interrupted, Sam appears only fractured, out and in of place. The camera moves than back up to the endless rotating fan, a cut occurs than the camera focuses on Sam's face showing the viewer Sam looking up to the fan in a mesmerizing state of mind. The fan symbolizes repetition, further symbolizes in an abstract form something that’s happening has happened before. The last time the mesmerizing effects of a fan in combination with Sam could be seen in episode 4x21 'When The Levee Brakes' during Sam's enforced detox in Bobby's bunker, where the huge ceiling fan endlessly rotated during Sam's hallucinations of his mother and brother. Again a used familiar situation out of the past put into the present.


The viewer is aware of the Men of Letters capacity in mingling with the occult, he or she met Henry Winchester deliberately manipulating time by using spells and ritualistic magic, as like Cuthbert Sinclair consciously manipulating perception and perceived reality, which btw caused hallucinations, also by using spells and ritualistic magic. Therefor in conclusion it isn't far fetched to claim Toni Bevelle, a British Men of Letters member, could be truly in a nefarious way manipulating Sam's perceived reality. Anything goes.

-  Reality  -

“...you live in the Men of Letters bunker, awash in the world's greatest collection of occult knowledge, and yet you know nothing.” Toni Bevelle

Never before on a show have truer words been said, various viewers, as like me at first insulted the show makers of being incapable of creating a story the way the viewer had expected and wanted the story to be, BUT this is not their task. The only obligation the long running show 'Supernatural' has, is to create STORIES based on the magical world of 'Supernatural'. And for crying out loud they nailed it!! They created a magical reality hidden in a familiar 'Supernatural' reality, and the only way to find out which reality is which, is simply by knowing the used hidden aka occult techniques and trusting the known and familiar characterizations. 
 
All in all both episodes 12x01-02 are a beautiful enigma wrapped in a deception, wrapped in an illusion, wrapped in magic.
Who is the – Master of Reality - ?

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