The Supernatural Predicament

******BEWARE: MAJOR SUPERNATURAL TV SHOW SPOILERS AHEAD******

I am not the typical Supernatural fan. Unlike scores of its faithful followers, I did not start watching it when it premiered back in 2005. Upon Brian's recommendation, who got into watching it since around the 3rd or 4th season, I first started watching it in early 2019. I had binged through the first season fairly quickly. Season Two came and it was more erratic. Perhaps life got in the way, perhaps it just wasn't my mood or mindset, or a combination thereof, but I ended up abandoning it until this year.

Enter The Great Binge of 2020. Like countless other shows, Supernatural was filming when the Pandemic hit and everything came to a screeching halt of a shut down. Except this was their last season, and had the Pandemic not happened, it would have ended in May. But, as we all know, filming production was pushed way back until August, and with the final episodes airing now. This presented the perfect opportunity for me to get caught up! So, Brian and I hunkered down this Summer and did just that. Well, he was already caught up, but as he often does, he selflessly rewatches shows or movies so I can see them for the first time. He's super nice and thoughtful like that. 😍

I mention this all to drive home an important point: While I may not have had the same experience of living with the premise, plot and characters for the past 15 years, I don't believe that has caused me any great disservice in my interpretation and experience with the show. If anything, since I literally immersed myself with the goal of getting caught up and did so in about a month's time, I could argue that I'm even more hypersensitive and aware to the material since it's all still pretty fresh. 

Now, I will preface this a little bit further by saying that my take on this has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that I kinda developed a bit of a crush on Castiel/Misha Collins while watching the show. My fridge is adorned with several magnets in his honor. This is nothing new for me, as I tend to crush out on at least one major character in just about every show I watch. So naturally, I didn't want him to die. But I certainly don't want Sam or Dean to die either, even though I am not crushing out on them. So I say this just for the sake of transparency and full disclosure. 

But here's the thing: given the purpose of his character, I knew it was always possible - if not inevitable - that he would die, and die for good. My struggle with this eventually gave way to the inevitability of it, even as I would protest, "If Castiel dies, I will riot!" Much to Brian's eyerolling chagrin. The reconciliation of it only became stronger as his more recent and pseudo-fatherly connection to Jack grew stronger. It has been setting up what appeared to be Castiel's destiny for a long time. And I get that it also speaks to the natural progression and character development of Castiel's character development and arc. 

Which finally brings me to the crux of this entry: Supernatural episode Despair has a serious Castiel problem. Moreover, the proclamation he made before his apparently Final Death is a problem. 

So, let's talk about that scene - Castiel's seemingly final scene in Supernatural. If you're reading this far into the entry, you know what it is because you saw it too, so I won't regurgitate everything here to belabor the reason for his death - that part I totally get. Cas and Dean are backed into a corner with Billie closing in. Out of options, Cas realizes he can make the ultimate sacrifice to save Dean from certain death.

 It's the proclamation and confirmation thereof that's problematic for me. There has been a lot of chatter and speculation on this scene, but Misha Collins himself seemingly confirmed that the phenomenon known as Destiel is now canon (at least partially) and that Cas was indeed proclaiming  his romantic love for Dean. I struggle with this for the reasons illustrated below. 

Destiel: This was a fan created concept that somehow Cas and Dean are both sexually attracted to and possibly even in love with each other. Supernatural itself pokes fun at this concept in an earlier season. I have no problem with the sexuality/preferences/proclivities of any character I watch in any TV show or movie, and am an ally/supporter of the LGBTQ+ community, and I confidently even label myself as Bi-Curious. But the fundamental problem I have with this notion here is that Cas and Dean's dynamic never actually showed us that this was even a possibility. Even in the case of one-sided, unrequited love - which I am certain it would have been in this case, there was never any inkling even shown by Castiel that he even remotely interested in Dean in that way. It came out of left field and is incongruous to how the characters interacted and their overall dynamic throughout the course of the show. 

The Declaration of Love Before Dying Trope: Even if you were to discount and ignore all of the above, take that scene at face value, that Castiel delivers this wonderfully tragic declaration of love in that scene, it still boils down to an overused plot device of a character doing so just before dying. The scene is undoubtedly intense and energized as it is - and Misha Collins definitely brought it performance-wise. But it also felt weirdly rushed and so out of sorts, even for a scene where Death is literally closing in. Dean literally has no time to process or react to any of it - the proclamation and the realization of what Cas is about to do. It's making matters even worse that they're doing it in such a way to immediately kill off a gay character, and effectively shitting on the Destiel concept at the same time. Whatever intention and goal they may have had for this scene, I believe this actually cheapens the feel and outcome and that both the characters of Cas and Dean, (as well as the actors portraying them) deserved a better form of closure. 

The Silver Lining - There is, however, a bit of sheer beauty in the scene and how it's vaguely written and, more importantly, how Misha Collins delivers those final words. It's all in perspective and context and how it can be fixed. If you consider Castiel's character development and overall arc, as well is his progressive relationship with Dean, Cas is taking his final moment by reassuring Dean that he knows Dean is a good person, that no matter what, he's always had the best intention in mind and has tried to do the right thing. He is, in that moment, being brotherly. Their characters have actually had a bumpy go of it and haven't always seen eye-to-eye. In his final moments, Cas is showing us that he's grown and truly developed more human qualities and emotions and the ability to connect than when we first met him. He is in fact, still not human, but his journey with Sam, Dean and Jack has still made him grow nonetheless. They have become a family.  Although Cas saying "I want the one thing I know I can't have" can certainly invoke different connotations, with this perspective it's very likely he could mean a soul, or maybe the chance to be human. But he's made his own peace with that and wants Dean to know he's OK with it. Wraps it all up in a much neater bow, doesn't it? 

What do you think? Do you agree with my synopsis or do you ascribe to Cas being in love with Dean? 

I really wasn't joking about the magnets. 💖😍