Smiling Sam...

[ash48]

Playing a round with gifs. :)

I was looking at this piece of footage recently (from 2.20 What Is...) and thought that the only time we really see Sam this happy and relaxed is in Dean's dream. Seems significant somehow.

Also, I adore this smile. His face lights up.

I'm sure this is deliberately made to look fake, or forced. Sam never seemed comfortable with Amelia's dad. Even at the end when they were sharing a "laugh". Or is that just me...

Comments

[womanofletters.livejournal.com]

I totally see the difference too. And is this deliberate, like the writers are saying even when Sam is happy, he's not truly happy? Like he can never truly get out of the hunting life?

I thought Amelia's dad reminded him too much of John. The military attitude and all. Or maybe I'm imagining that...

[ash48.livejournal.com]

like the writers are saying even when Sam is happy, he's not truly happy? Like he can never truly get out of the hunting life?

Yeah. I wonder that too. When I watched that episode I remember being very excited because I thought they were trying to show us just how out of place Sam was in a "normal" life. I think there was a real effort on his part to be happy - but there was also an underlying "truth" that this isn't a life he could ever have. Dean had a "Hurt Locker moment" in one episode - I see this as Sam's. (Not sure if I'm making sense - if you haven't seen The Hurt Locker, it might not...)

And yes. Amelia's dad was there to remind us of John I think. I cant imagine John would be an easy father to meet either.

[womanofletters.livejournal.com]

I've never seen The Hurt Locker, but now it's on my (ever-growing) must-see list. Is there ever enough time in the day? :)

I'm assuming by "Hurt Locker moment" you mean a moment in which the character realizes (or perhaps the audience? or both?) that he or she will never 100 percent fit in? And can you elaborate on Dean's Hurt Locker moment?

No, I'd hate to have to meet John as either Sam or Dean's girlfriend. That would be uncomfortable, at best.

[ash48.livejournal.com]

The Hurt Locker is an excellent film.

My reference is partly about not fitting in and partly about that moment when you notice how different things are.

There's a moment in the film where the returning solider is in a supermarket - looking at all the food and realising how mundane and "normal" things are (and realising that he can't live like this...)

For Dean it happens when he returns from Purgatory and he's staring at the food dispenser at the motel. It's not exactly a moment of "I don't fit in" but rather a reflection of how different life on "earth" is to life in Purgatory.

I think of this moment of Sam's in much the same way. He's staring "normal" in the face and can see how different it is to the life he's been living. It might be something he wants but after all this time of not having it, he just doesn't fit there.

Ha...or maybe I'm over thinking it...;)

[womanofletters.livejournal.com]

No, I don't think you're overthinking it at all. :) There's a lot of subtext in Supernatural, put there by the writers and the actors, and yes, I can see it.