I loved this episode for the way it showed both Sam and Dean's fears and strengths. Both of them trying to grapple with Sam's new powers: Sam not so successfully and Dean scrambling like mad to keep that 'game face' in place so Sam has some grounding. On a purely shallow note: all that black makes Sam look so long and lean and interesting that Sam always has his shirts buttoned up (signifying I guess his compulsive and confused nature) while Dean is out there wide and free.
On to the John bit: I've always thought he was a man who made mistakes, but given his background (Marine) and what happened to his family, he made them out of love. Yeah he drank, because that's what manly men do to drown their sorrows, but he wasn't an alcoholic I don't think. This episode is one of the first where Sam grows up a bit and looks beyond his own 'teenage angst' enough to realize what John actually was going through. Up to this point, we've seen John through they eyes of a son who was still thinking like a rebellious teenager and a lot of people don't seem to understand that. We're not getting an unbiased picture of John at all, and yes, he did do some crazy things by hauling them along with him. But he did it because he loved them and was doing the best he knew to protect them. And personally, as a 'latch key' kid myself...it teaches you a lot of things, like independence and learning to think and rely on yourself - good foundations for a later life. Now throw in their childhood and of course there are going to be 'issues', but really? John gave those boys survival skills, and if they didn't love each other, no way would both boys have hugged him so easily when they found him again. Uh, sorry for the rant, but this episode really does show so much more of the relationship.
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On to the John bit: I've always thought he was a man who made mistakes, but given his background (Marine) and what happened to his family, he made them out of love. Yeah he drank, because that's what manly men do to drown their sorrows, but he wasn't an alcoholic I don't think. This episode is one of the first where Sam grows up a bit and looks beyond his own 'teenage angst' enough to realize what John actually was going through. Up to this point, we've seen John through they eyes of a son who was still thinking like a rebellious teenager and a lot of people don't seem to understand that. We're not getting an unbiased picture of John at all, and yes, he did do some crazy things by hauling them along with him. But he did it because he loved them and was doing the best he knew to protect them. And personally, as a 'latch key' kid myself...it teaches you a lot of things, like independence and learning to think and rely on yourself - good foundations for a later life. Now throw in their childhood and of course there are going to be 'issues', but really? John gave those boys survival skills, and if they didn't love each other, no way would both boys have hugged him so easily when they found him again. Uh, sorry for the rant, but this episode really does show so much more of the relationship.