and our lives are forever changed, we will never be the same

[krickets]

Spoilers for the latest episode of Supernatural, s02ep17 - Heart, under the cut. Or more specifically, an analysis of the final scene and its possible ramifications.


I'm sure every Buffy fan will remember the end of The Gift. I'm not talking about the moment that Buffy sacrificed herself to save the world. I'm talking about the moment before that - the moment that Giles had to kill Ben, an innocent.

Ben: She could have killed me.
Giles: No. She couldn't. Never. And sooner or later, Glory will re-emerge and make Buffy pay for that mercy, and the world with her. Buffy even knows that, and still she couldn't take a human life. She's a hero, you see. She's not like us.

In that moment, I think we understood a little bit more about Giles. And I think it's one of the things that always made me feel that he was a little bit stronger than Buffy in some ways. Because he knew the price, and he was able to make the hard choice. A choice that Buffy herself could not make.

At the same time, I can't help but feeling that a little bit of Giles died that night with Ben. He was changed. In tonight's episode, when Sam kills Madison I felt it was a kind of mirror reflection of this.

I believe that the connection between Sam and Madison was put in place so that Sam would make that choice. Without it, he wouldn't have. Dean would have. Because Dean, like Giles, knows the price they have to pay to keep the world a safer place. More than that, he accepts it. Sacrifices have to be made. Innocent people die. That's the way things work.

I believe that this changes everything for Sam. He's killed an innocent. And I think that's what Dean's tears were about. He was mourning the baby brother that he knew he was going to lose the moment Sam pulled that trigger.

This is probably some kind of right of passage for a hunter. And it was only a matter of time. But it doesn't make it any less heartbreaking or real. It is storylines like this one that are the reason that I watch television.

In addition, this could become a kind of catalyst for the rest of Sammy's story arc this season, and I just can't wait to see how that plays out.

Edited to add: (Something I said to purestvixen on AIM)
He can't live in that world knowing what he knows and not become that guy.

Comments

[quiet-rebel.livejournal.com]

Wow. You know I didn't even think about it that way, but it totally makes sense. Add that to the possible foreshadowing between Dean and Sam and have a really heartbreaking tragic story.

Love the Buffy comparison. Dean never claimed to be a hero (as Giles said) and now Sam is in that same boat.

It is storylines like this one that are the reason that I watch television.

This episode could totally be dismissed as the one where Sam got laid, but it wasn't just about the werewolf or Sam and Madison hooking up. It was about everything in your post!

[theatrejawa.livejournal.com]

I liked that analysis... I've been thinking of Oz and how killing Madison would never be the Buffy way to do things. But Madison really isn't Oz and the Winchesters exist in a very different, darker universe.

And your comparison really explains why that is...

Nifty.

[crickets.livejournal.com]

But Madison really isn't Oz and the Winchesters exist in a very different, darker universe.

Truer words were never spoken.

[crickets.livejournal.com]

but it wasn't just about the werewolf or Sam and Madison hooking up

Exactly.

[ongiara.livejournal.com]

I think that's what Dean's tears were about. He was mourning the baby brother that he knew he was going to lose the moment Sam pulled that trigger.
Love your insight here and it makes complete sense and adding the fact that Dean some day might very well be the one pulling the trigger on Sam becaue it's the only way left to save him makes this scene even more sad *wibbles*

[crickets.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, that was the notion that was at the forefront of my mind. Perhaps a bit of foreshadowing. But there were so many things going on in that scene! Too sad. My heart is broken now.