I wanted to respond to your comment about how you were torn about Cas and how you sometimes think he takes away from the "SamnDean-ness" of the show.
First, a disclaimer. As you know, I do ship Dean/Cas, but I have watched the show since the pilot and have been in it since the beginning. I'm not someone who came into the show just for the ship; I've loved it all from the first season. The Sam and Dean brotherly relationship is what drew me in. If I had to choose, frankly I'd cheer for Team Free Will above all, anyway.
But I digress. Now speaking *without* my shipping goggles on, the thing about Cas is that he provides Dean with the opportunity to trust someone other than his inner circle of Bobby and Sam. Dean has always been a shoot first ask questions later kind of guy, and doesn't trust easily. It took him a long time to even trust Castiel -- despite him being an angel -- even though Sam was ready to right away. They've built up a relationship of solidarity and camaraderie that, I think, was rare for Dean because his life is centered around Sam. Dean is so laser focused on his duty to protect Sam at all costs that I don't think he ever considered he could have someone else in his life that he might be able to trust and consider a friend.
Look at it this way: Dean has never been close to other hunters (Bobby excluded because he's essentially the father figure); he's never had any solid long-term relationships, friend or otherwise; he's unable to form any kind of emotional connection to anyone other than Sam...all of which shifts when Cas comes along. Cas serves as Dean's emotional outlet, because we all know he hates talking about that stuff. I think he's more willing to unburden himself to Cas as well, because he still sees the need to protect Sam, to be the strong, stalwart big brother, even from what he's feeling. There are scenes in which Dean is more willing to express himself to Cas, from admitting to not being strong enough to handle what has been placed on him ("On the Head of a Pin") to his fear about Sam drinking blood again. I don't think we'd ever have a scene with Dean *admitting* he's not strong enough to a character he's only interacted with a few times unless Dean knew he could trust him absolutely.
I guess the tl;dr of this is that Dean needs someone like Cas, someone who Dean has finally allowed to get close and know him emotionally, to be able to unburden himself from the stuff he would never want to tell Sam because he's supposed to be the strong one.
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Date: 2012-05-21 05:41 pm (UTC)First, a disclaimer. As you know, I do ship Dean/Cas, but I have watched the show since the pilot and have been in it since the beginning. I'm not someone who came into the show just for the ship; I've loved it all from the first season. The Sam and Dean brotherly relationship is what drew me in. If I had to choose, frankly I'd cheer for Team Free Will above all, anyway.
But I digress. Now speaking *without* my shipping goggles on, the thing about Cas is that he provides Dean with the opportunity to trust someone other than his inner circle of Bobby and Sam. Dean has always been a shoot first ask questions later kind of guy, and doesn't trust easily. It took him a long time to even trust Castiel -- despite him being an angel -- even though Sam was ready to right away. They've built up a relationship of solidarity and camaraderie that, I think, was rare for Dean because his life is centered around Sam. Dean is so laser focused on his duty to protect Sam at all costs that I don't think he ever considered he could have someone else in his life that he might be able to trust and consider a friend.
Look at it this way: Dean has never been close to other hunters (Bobby excluded because he's essentially the father figure); he's never had any solid long-term relationships, friend or otherwise; he's unable to form any kind of emotional connection to anyone other than Sam...all of which shifts when Cas comes along. Cas serves as Dean's emotional outlet, because we all know he hates talking about that stuff. I think he's more willing to unburden himself to Cas as well, because he still sees the need to protect Sam, to be the strong, stalwart big brother, even from what he's feeling. There are scenes in which Dean is more willing to express himself to Cas, from admitting to not being strong enough to handle what has been placed on him ("On the Head of a Pin") to his fear about Sam drinking blood again. I don't think we'd ever have a scene with Dean *admitting* he's not strong enough to a character he's only interacted with a few times unless Dean knew he could trust him absolutely.
I guess the tl;dr of this is that Dean needs someone like Cas, someone who Dean has finally allowed to get close and know him emotionally, to be able to unburden himself from the stuff he would never want to tell Sam because he's supposed to be the strong one.