This is a very convincing argument, and it certainly paints a picture that would sell season 6 to any Dean fan, except when watching it's very difficult not to have a different take on it. Not because we ignored Dean's actions, but because despite Dean acting as a proactive hero..and succeeding in many mini battles..pretty much everything he did was All About Sam. He discovered that Sam was Souless, he didn't trust Sam, he retrieved Sam's soul, he worried about Sam with the Wall up then when the Wall broke he worried that Sam might die. This was a running theme throughout the season. Nothing was All About Dean except Lisa and Ben, which got very little screen time. Both Dean killing Eve and becoming the centre of Castiel's betrayal came right at the end of the season...when I think TPTB had to make some changes, and the latter was only because of Ben Edlund writing TMWWBK.
I notice a lot of arguments about who gets the storylines v who gets the POV or characterisation v passive plot bunny..but thinking about it, sometimes I wonder if that really matters. What seems to matter is what gets the most emphasis from the writers..what do THEY value the most. You mention how Dean was the hero and has done a lot of heroic stuff in season 6 and 7, well in any other show I would agree that makes Dean the central character..because on another show that kind of character would be valued most by the writers, and all the emphasis would be on him. However, on SPN the writers seem to value the Woobie character more..they would rather put more emphasis on the VictimSam than the HeroDean. So, instead of third parties waxing lyrical about Dean and his heroic acts..they're discussing Sam and his problems. You would get episode after episode of every character - Dean, Cas, Bobby etc all talking about what is up with Sam and how to save him. (In fact I actually think that 90% of the conversations Dean had with Bobby and Cas in the first ten episodes were related to Sam at some point). Then there are the baddies..Dean may vanquish them heroically..but in a showdown between Dean and Grampa Shady, or Dean versus Crowley the conversation was rarely about Dean, instead it would again be about Sam..whether it was Grampa working with him, or Crowley supposedly holding his soul hostage. Basically Sam was always present..even if he wasn't in the room he was still present because the topic of conversation would be about him. That's why it was absolutely clear that despite Sam never really doing anything other than have things happen to him..the fact that everyone and everything revolved around him, that made him the central character.
Just to add...the problem with the writers operating under this rule, is that the only way Dean could become the central character is if HE becomes the WoobieVictim and Sam becomes the proactive Hero..which wouldn't be true to Dean's character, and would annoy a lot of fans too. I would go so far as to say they have experimented with this this season, with Sam and Bobby having conversations about Dean..with things happening to Dean, and Sam getting a lot more kills.
Ideally what I would like is for Dean to be a proactive Hero in his own story, and Sam to be a proactive Hero in his own story and occasionally the two meet and link. It works on Fringe and other shows..but for some reason this isn't a method the SPN writers like to follow.
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Date: 2012-04-09 04:00 am (UTC)I notice a lot of arguments about who gets the storylines v who gets the POV or characterisation v passive plot bunny..but thinking about it, sometimes I wonder if that really matters. What seems to matter is what gets the most emphasis from the writers..what do THEY value the most. You mention how Dean was the hero and has done a lot of heroic stuff in season 6 and 7, well in any other show I would agree that makes Dean the central character..because on another show that kind of character would be valued most by the writers, and all the emphasis would be on him. However, on SPN the writers seem to value the Woobie character more..they would rather put more emphasis on the VictimSam than the HeroDean. So, instead of third parties waxing lyrical about Dean and his heroic acts..they're discussing Sam and his problems. You would get episode after episode of every character - Dean, Cas, Bobby etc all talking about what is up with Sam and how to save him. (In fact I actually think that 90% of the conversations Dean had with Bobby and Cas in the first ten episodes were related to Sam at some point). Then there are the baddies..Dean may vanquish them heroically..but in a showdown between Dean and Grampa Shady, or Dean versus Crowley the conversation was rarely about Dean, instead it would again be about Sam..whether it was Grampa working with him, or Crowley supposedly holding his soul hostage. Basically Sam was always present..even if he wasn't in the room he was still present because the topic of conversation would be about him. That's why it was absolutely clear that despite Sam never really doing anything other than have things happen to him..the fact that everyone and everything revolved around him, that made him the central character.
Just to add...the problem with the writers operating under this rule, is that the only way Dean could become the central character is if HE becomes the WoobieVictim and Sam becomes the proactive Hero..which wouldn't be true to Dean's character, and would annoy a lot of fans too. I would go so far as to say they have experimented with this this season, with Sam and Bobby having conversations about Dean..with things happening to Dean, and Sam getting a lot more kills.
Ideally what I would like is for Dean to be a proactive Hero in his own story, and Sam to be a proactive Hero in his own story and occasionally the two meet and link. It works on Fringe and other shows..but for some reason this isn't a method the SPN writers like to follow.