I will say I am LOVING the Sam-being-tortured-by-Lucifer story line and not just because it gives us some Sammy pain, but because it adds weight to the sacrifice Sam made when he returned Lucifer to the cage. The wall was a BIG DEAL in S6, so it makes sense that it's still a big deal in S7.
Yes, I really adore this. There was such finality to Swan Song, and I love the sense that this really is an ongoing sacrifice. They got him out of hell, but he's still suffering; even if they fix the hallucinations, he'll still be stuck with the memory. I think it makes an interesting contrast to Dean's experience in seasons four and five, too - there was a lot of pressure on him, mostly from the angels, to just move on and cope, because they had no interest in him as a person at all. But obviously things like that don't just go away, so it all kept leaking out the sides. Here it's mostly Sam putting pressure on himself to be okay. It's understandable - he's paid his price and their problems don't have much to do with Lucifer these days. But he can't make it go away either. It's tragic because he's not even lying about it - he says exactly what's happening, but his tone, his body language, his attitude all put forward the idea that this is minor and manageable, but it's not.
My bro!love craving wanted to see Dean show more concern with Sam's reveal about Lucifer being on board 24/7 but I know it was there and I think it's more realistic to simply have him ask about his condition and tell him to get some sleep.
Agreed - and I think that's part of the horror of the situation, too. If Dean could see what we have seen, he would probably be more frightened. But he never does. Back when it was visions, we saw those; now it's Lucifer, we've watched what he does. All Dean ever sees are the physical symptoms - so that's what he tries to deal with. He's displaying an appropriate level of concern for 'my brother didn't get any sleep last night'. It's just that we know that it's worse than that. I think the truck scene is all about that - Dean has no idea how close he is to losing Sam, because Sam's putting up a really good front. The trouble is, there's not a whole lot of difference between the pe-Repo Man situation and now. Before, Sam could take occasional breaks from Lucifer. Now he can't. That's it. So there's no big change in his behaviour, and the sleep problem is going to take time to build up.
I want to take an enormous leap and say that the (targeted) big bad this season is pharmaceutical companies. Yes, yes.. I know they aren't actually the big bad but when the writers sat down this season and said "what real evil can we investigate this season?"
Assuming they're telling the truth, I think the leviathans' cynical manipulation of the pharmaceutical industry is brilliant, and it's such a logical step up from their games with the food. That was a straightforward attempt to control human behaviour - but even when it mostly works it's a problem, because if just half a dozen people die from your cheeseburgers you'll make the news and they won't let you make cheeseburgers anymore. Medical research is a whole different matter. You can perform experiments right out in public, and once you get past a certain point you can call for human trials - and while people will take note if your drug is dangerous, a small percentage of adverse reactions would be expected. Of course in the real world there are regulations and safeguards - but they've infiltrated everything; they can get around whatever they need to. If this is just a means of manoeuvring themselves into positions of power, it'll work; if it's an effort to introduce a drug of some kind into human systems, it'll work. I look forward to seeing where this goes. :)
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Date: 2012-03-18 03:17 am (UTC)Yes, I really adore this. There was such finality to Swan Song, and I love the sense that this really is an ongoing sacrifice. They got him out of hell, but he's still suffering; even if they fix the hallucinations, he'll still be stuck with the memory. I think it makes an interesting contrast to Dean's experience in seasons four and five, too - there was a lot of pressure on him, mostly from the angels, to just move on and cope, because they had no interest in him as a person at all. But obviously things like that don't just go away, so it all kept leaking out the sides. Here it's mostly Sam putting pressure on himself to be okay. It's understandable - he's paid his price and their problems don't have much to do with Lucifer these days. But he can't make it go away either. It's tragic because he's not even lying about it - he says exactly what's happening, but his tone, his body language, his attitude all put forward the idea that this is minor and manageable, but it's not.
My bro!love craving wanted to see Dean show more concern with Sam's reveal about Lucifer being on board 24/7 but I know it was there and I think it's more realistic to simply have him ask about his condition and tell him to get some sleep.
Agreed - and I think that's part of the horror of the situation, too. If Dean could see what we have seen, he would probably be more frightened. But he never does. Back when it was visions, we saw those; now it's Lucifer, we've watched what he does. All Dean ever sees are the physical symptoms - so that's what he tries to deal with. He's displaying an appropriate level of concern for 'my brother didn't get any sleep last night'. It's just that we know that it's worse than that. I think the truck scene is all about that - Dean has no idea how close he is to losing Sam, because Sam's putting up a really good front. The trouble is, there's not a whole lot of difference between the pe-Repo Man situation and now. Before, Sam could take occasional breaks from Lucifer. Now he can't. That's it. So there's no big change in his behaviour, and the sleep problem is going to take time to build up.
I want to take an enormous leap and say that the (targeted) big bad this season is pharmaceutical companies. Yes, yes.. I know they aren't actually the big bad but when the writers sat down this season and said "what real evil can we investigate this season?"
Assuming they're telling the truth, I think the leviathans' cynical manipulation of the pharmaceutical industry is brilliant, and it's such a logical step up from their games with the food. That was a straightforward attempt to control human behaviour - but even when it mostly works it's a problem, because if just half a dozen people die from your cheeseburgers you'll make the news and they won't let you make cheeseburgers anymore. Medical research is a whole different matter. You can perform experiments right out in public, and once you get past a certain point you can call for human trials - and while people will take note if your drug is dangerous, a small percentage of adverse reactions would be expected. Of course in the real world there are regulations and safeguards - but they've infiltrated everything; they can get around whatever they need to. If this is just a means of manoeuvring themselves into positions of power, it'll work; if it's an effort to introduce a drug of some kind into human systems, it'll work. I look forward to seeing where this goes. :)