Visual Clues to Soulless Sam in Season Six

[ash48]

It's been a while since I've posted anything visual or meta-ish, so I thought I'd put together a little pic-spam. It's possibly grasping at straws a little bit (ok, maybe a lot), but *shrugs*, I enjoy examining the visual elements on the show and it always looks so pretty anyway.

I've always been intrigued by the scene where Soulless!Sam is filmed behind bars in Live Free or Twihard (6.05). I've always felt it was a visual clue to the fact that Sam's soul was still in the cage. Of course, when the episode aired we didn't know that but looking back I really like the idea. I decided to see if there were any other moments during the soulless!Sam episodes where bars appear and sure enough there were. I have no idea if any of these are deliberate "hints" that a major part of Sam is still locked up, but I feel that there are times when it looks like a choice has been made to include bars - or the feeling of bars, in a scene. 6.01 Exile on Main Street. I'm probably really stretching the idea here, but I rather love that Sam is sitting on a stripped blanket when he first appears to Dean. There are also bars on the window. 6.02 Two and a Half Men. I love the glorious barred shutters in this shot and how awesome are those knives sitting on the bench?! Great choice of prop. We could stretch the them even further by thinking that the streams of light are actually a reference to Sam's soul (I'm pretty sure it's not, but I adore the idea it could be). I love this shot even if it's not a deliberate reference to Sam's soul being in the cage. 6.02 Two and a Half Men. This isn't "bars" as such, but I love the way the police tape frames Sam. 6.03 The Third Man Ok, I hear ya. This is a gratuitous shirtless Sam shot but there are bars on the windows! Or, what looks like bars. Oh shuttup. You can't do a soulless!Sam picspam and exclude this scene. :) 6.05 Live Free or Twihard. Bars of light on Sam's face. 6.05 Live Free or Twihard. This is the scene that I feel demonstrates the theme best. It starts off with baby locked away behind these bars. Then Sam is filmed on the phone through the bars. It's such a cool location and beautifully shot. 6.06 You Can't Handle the Truth The bar-like room divider is pretty neat. And with a stretch of the imagination we can picture them being pried open - like someone/thing trying to get out (come on, work with me here...;D). The light streaming through the horizontal blinds is a nice touch also. 6.06 You Can't Handle the Truth Appropriate doors. 6.07 Family Matters Horizontal blinds are used a lot in the show, but I do like the use of them in this scene. This is when it's first confirmed that Sam's soul is missing. 6.07 Family Matters Yep, bars. 6.10 Caged Heat Sam is knocked out and filmed in bars of light. 6.10 Caged Heat I really love the composition of this shot. The barred windows behind Sam are wonderful, as are the shadows they create on the floor under him. Much of this episode is set in a prison and it even had Sam (and Dean) locked up in a cell at one point. It's a really dark episode I think. Looking back it was quite poignant considering where Sam's soul was. The next few couple of examples are after Sam's soul is returned. 6.13 Unforgiven In this episode Sam has flashbacks of being soulless. It opens with this lovely shot of Sam behind the mesh room divider. There are also horizontal blinds in the background. Sam is locked up during this episode and the way they film the bars is a great visual reminder of the cage his soul was once trapped in. I remember thinking that when the episode aired (probably even wrote about it once). While I'm here I can't neglect a wonderful shot and scene from season five, where Lucifer first appears to Sam. The room divider is an intricate weave of wrought iron. I've always felt this was a visual hint of what's to come. 5.03 Free To Be You and Me. So there you have it. Even if they are all coincidental, I do believe that directors and set designers can work subconsciously to create these hidden elements.

Comments

[freya922.livejournal.com]

Loved this; such amazing insights and visual themes I wouldn't have thought about on my own.

[ash48.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Glad some of my geekiness makes some sense. :))

[caranfindel.livejournal.com]

Wow! I love that you caught these things.

Oh shuttup. You can't do a soulless!Sam picspam and exclude this scene. :)

No, you most certainly can't! XD

[ash48.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

It would have been very remiss of me to neglect shirtless soulless Sam…;)

[borgmama1of5.livejournal.com]

Delighted to see one of your thought-provoking analysis of the visual elements again--they always make me go 'wow, I didn't see that!'

[ash48.livejournal.com]

Oh yay! I'm glad you like them. I've missed doing them. Hopefully S11 will give us some more great visuals. :)

[milly-gal.livejournal.com]

Was this what you were teasing at? Because AWESOME!!! I love it when they give us visual clues which they know we'll pick up on, even if it is at the back of the cortex! These are fantastic examples of something being slightly out, slightly skewed!

Wonderful post honey, wonderful!

I firmly believe that even if it's possibly subconscious on the set designers parts, or even the camera operators parts, it's still an intended tick towards a certain *feel* :)

[ash48.livejournal.com]

Was this what you were teasing at?

Yep! :)

These are fantastic examples of something being slightly out, slightly skewed!

Exactly. The soulless episodes always had a hint of something being so very wrong. It frustrated the hell out of me. It's only looking back that I can appreciate what they were doing. It was quite a daring story line in hindsight.

it's still an intended tick towards a certain *feel*

I agree. I'm not sure many of these are deliberate, but I do think they were going for a certain "feel" in this part of the season and the mood and the way they filmed things certainly led to that feel.

Thanks for your feedback. <333

[milly-gal.livejournal.com]

I do enjoy these posts, because yes I love being a pervery filled fangirl as much as the next lass, but it's really good to be able to use my brain and think thinky thoughts and express them, and I know this is always a safe place to do so, but also always present and correct with a well thought out discussion :) Yay you for letting us be able to chinwag about this stuff :)

[citrusjava.livejournal.com]

Very interesting take! Thank you!

And if so - a much more compassionate take on Sam's soulessness on the show's part than the show seemed to give him - I'm glad it wasn't something to portray Sam as dark or sinister

[ash48.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

a much more compassionate take on Sam's soulessness on the show's part than the show seemed to give him

Oh boy, that's a can of worms isn't it. Looking back I think there are definitely moment of compassion It was SO hard to see at the time. Even I (a die hard Sam!gal) was lacking compassion for "this" Sam.

I think the bars are a nice way of at least acknowledging that a part of Sam is missing.

[citrusjava.livejournal.com]

Really? I didn't even know this was a can of worms....

I get not having compassion for that Sam - I certainly have more compassion for him now that when I first watched it (it really bothered me that they were talking about Sam's soul like it was a thing, like it wasn't *Sam* down there, experiencing all of that - but really, I am still confused by season 6. I mean - not as a euphemism, actually confused.

Anyway - this was really cool of you to write, and i didn't intend to open any worm cans........

[ash48.livejournal.com]

Haha, well it's probably not a can of worms as such. Just, um..,lots of thinky (and personal history I have with discussing soulless!Sam *g*).

it really bothered me that they were talking about Sam's soul like it was a thing, like it wasn't *Sam* down there, experiencing all of that

Yes. Very much. And that Dean was so horrid to Sam - even after discovering he was soulless - treating him like it was his fault (and interesting that this was carried on in S8 with Dean accusing Sam of "losing" it). I understand Dean's perspective because he went through hell thinking Sam was dead and Dean was dealing with personal trauma of his own.

I really enjoy chatting about past seasons. Things always look different in hindsight. :))

[citrusjava.livejournal.com]

Yes. Very much. And that Dean was so horrid to Sam - even after discovering he was soulless - treating him like it was his fault (and interesting that this was carried on in S8 with Dean accusing Sam of "losing" it). I understand Dean's perspective because he went through hell thinking Sam was dead and Dean was dealing with personal trauma of his own.


Yes yes!


I really enjoy chatting about past seasons. Things always look different in hindsight. :))


So much!

It really changes perspective - even just watching season 6 after season 10, rather than after early seasons. Truth is, I'm a bit.... off balance about Dean after this season - i really really need him to be more - sympathetic

[kazluvsbooks.livejournal.com]

Wow, this is amazing ash!!
I had never noticed any of these before!!

Wonderful shots you chose <3

[ash48.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much hun! <3

[jj1564.livejournal.com]

This is a really interesting post, I'd never noticed all the clues to the cage Sam's soul was trapped in, and shirtless soulless!Sam is always good to see!

[ash48.livejournal.com]

Thank you! :) I always thought that one shot from 6.05 was a definite reference, but I didn't realise how many more examples there until I went looking.

[madebyme-x.livejournal.com]

\o/ I love seeing meta thinky thoughts from you.

Simply from the amount of examples you've shown, it certainly leans towards a conscious effort to depict it that way, and I like it think it was purposely done. It would certainly add an interesting dimension to souless!Sam, one that maybe the writers didn't explore.

(and personally I was hoping that you would include a still of *that* scene ;)

[ash48.livejournal.com]

Thanks hun. :)

and I like it think it was purposely done

So would I. I always hope they're doing things deliberately when we discover stuff. :))

And *that* scene is a must of course…:D

[galwithglasses.livejournal.com]

This is very cool. I realized when I watched 6.01 that there were a lot of bars, plaid and horizontal lines. Lisa's house is full of them. The plaid is everywhere. I never expanded the theme out to look at that through the rest of the season though. These caps are really awesome. The one of the impala inside the fence is particularly exquisite. So many of these shots look dark and gritty. Is this the season that was supposed to have a film noir feel to it? Some of the seasons run together after a while. It feels good to be able to have fun looking at some of these images again.

[ash48.livejournal.com]

Hey!

The show certainly likes to use plaid (I always remember S8 with Amelia and all that plaid type wall paper). With Lisa's house being full of them too it might be a shout out to Dean feeling equally trapped (or stuck).

Is this the season that was supposed to have a film noir feel to it?

I think it was this one. It did have a noir-ish feel - in fact it was pretty dark. Caged Heat is such a dark, nasty episode.

The one of the impala inside the fence is particularly exquisite.

I adore it! There's even a pot of flowers in the background of that scene. :)

Fun to be talking about images again. I hope we can do it again in S11. :)

[fufaraw]

I always love these posts of yours. I find myself going, "I noticed that!" but wasn't aware enough to make the next step to connect to a theme. I hope you have more chances in S.11 to make these kinds of connections.

[ash48.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

I hope S11 gives us some more great cinematography. I'm sure it will. :))

[aletheiafelinea.livejournal.com]

My favorite in this context is 6.02, but all your list is awesome. :)

The scene in the cell - 6.10 - is also interesting, because it's a double prison. First, Sam is locked by demons, and then he traps them in his own cell and runs away.

[ash48.livejournal.com]

Thank you. :)

First, Sam is locked by demons, and then he traps them in his own cell and runs away.

Yes yes. Clever Sam is clever (and *argh* he bleeds himself to achieve this).

[cassiopeia7.livejournal.com]

Your eye for detail is amazing! I especially love the idea that the light beams could be referencing Sam's soul -- what gorgeous imagery! ♥

. . . and yes, there can be no "Soulless!Sam" retrospective without including shirtless soulless!Sam. ;)

[ash48.livejournal.com]

Thanks sweetie! I would love to think the light beams could be Sam's soul. :)

And never enough shirtless soulless!Sam. :)

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

Hey - 6.02 has bars in the background - the fence on the left and, at a stretch, the white wooden thingy on the right too....!

[ash48.livejournal.com]

Oh it does too! Great catch. :)) In fact, the whole scene is full of lines.

[netlynn.livejournal.com]

Mmmm! Soulless Sam and the no shirt will be a winner to me every single time.

[ash48.livejournal.com]

I know right?! :)

[chomaisky.livejournal.com]

Lots of bars! Love your interpretation!

[ash48.livejournal.com]

Thanks hun. :))

[killabeez.livejournal.com]

How very cool! Thank you for sharing your astute observations.

[ash48.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Glad you liked. :))

[amypond45.livejournal.com]

You make me want to go back and watch Season 6! (at least the first half) Thank you!

[ash48.livejournal.com]

I re-watched it recently. Liked it so much more the second time - knowing what was going on with Sam. When it aired it was so distressing (for me).

[greyowl88.livejournal.com]

I very much enjoyed your "straw grasping"! :D

[ash48.livejournal.com]

I'm glad! here I am, 10 years later, still thinking about this stuff. :))

xx

[hugemind.livejournal.com]

Oooo, this is awesome!! \o/ I haven't watched S6 in while, but I will definitely keep my eyes open for this the next time. I love how they include something like this - it makes perfect sense only after the reveal but still creates an oppressive, claustrophobic atmosphere even if you don't know the big secret.

[ash48.livejournal.com]

Hey. Yes yes. Even if it's only on a subliminal level, it works. Show is good at giving us these subtle, visual clues to watch lies beneath. Hope they keep it up in S11. :))

[elsewhere91.livejournal.com]

I love reading meta posts as it always shows me different aspects of show I've never noticed before. I really like to think that all the visual elements and clues of the show were deliberately put there. Thank you for this awesome post.

[ash48.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I love that the show gives us these things to think about. :)

(ooh and your icon is lovely).

[casey28.livejournal.com]

Wow, great job in noticing all the bars in those scenes!

It reminds me that in 6.07, as Soulless!Sam stood by the bars, the Alpha Vamp said "You smell cold. You have no soul. What an oddity. Do you feel how empty you are? What is it like to have no soul?"

[ash48.livejournal.com]

Oh yes! There were some great moments like that during S6. I hope we see that vamp again sometime!