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Something that I really want people to remember over the next 2 weeks is that Supernatural is a dinosaur. It's ancient.
Getting the network to agree to include ANY amount of textual lead character queerness this late in the game on a show this old is, unfortunately, unheard of.
Getting the network to agree to include ANY amount of textual lead character queerness this late in the game on a show this old is, unfortunately, unheard of.
Based on my understanding of the TV industry, I'm willing to bet that the writers had to fight tooth & nail just to get approval for Castiel's confession.
I don't even want to imagine the hoops they would have had to jump through.
I don't even want to imagine the hoops they would have had to jump through.
The fact that they DID is something I'll be grateful for forever. It can't have been easy.
But that's also why I'm not holding out hope for any explicit verbal confirmation from Dean. As much as he deserves that final step of growth & self acceptance, as much as these writers--
But that's also why I'm not holding out hope for any explicit verbal confirmation from Dean. As much as he deserves that final step of growth & self acceptance, as much as these writers--
--have pushed the envelope with regards to his closeted bisexuality and his deep relationship with Cas (which has felt so much more intentional since Dabb became showrunner) they don't have total control, & it doesn't seem likely to me that the network would have approved both.
And I'm not claiming to have some inside scoop, or to be an expert on the inner-workings of the TV industry, but based on what I do know of the way things work, and the way that things have been presented thus far, I'm expecting to see an ambiguous ending.
Not a denial, but not a confirmation either.
And I think it's important that if I'm right, and ambiguous is what we get, that people remember that the writers have given us everything they could.
And I think it's important that if I'm right, and ambiguous is what we get, that people remember that the writers have given us everything they could.
It's clear that they've been writing with intent to show that Dean's relationship with Cas is different to any other that he has. His grief arc in S13 alone is huge. But I don't need to list all the evidence for reciprocity. Dozens of people have already made threads.
I've been saying for years that as far as I'm concerned, based on their interactions, their reactions, the framing, the tropes, the editing, the writing, the musical cues--EVERYTHING--the fact that they were in love with one another was already canon.
We've now had explicit textual confirmation of Castiel's feelings.
So what's more likely? That we were only right about the interactions, writing, and so on in regards to ONE of those characters? That our ability to parse the narrative was spot-on for Castiel, but not for Dean?
So what's more likely? That we were only right about the interactions, writing, and so on in regards to ONE of those characters? That our ability to parse the narrative was spot-on for Castiel, but not for Dean?
Or that we were right about our readings for both characters, but haven't been given the final piece of the puzzle?
Occam's razor makes the answer pretty clear.
Occam's razor makes the answer pretty clear.
But while Dean might deserve that final step into acceptance & self-actualization, and while we as an audience (especially the queer audience who have seen ourselves in Dean since the start) certainly deserve to see his arc completed as undeniable text--
I think it would be wise to prepare for some level of ambiguity, and to remember how hard these writers must have fought to give us as much as they could.
Thanks to their work, we know that Dean & Cas are in love. Whatever happens in these last episodes, we'll always have that.
Thanks to their work, we know that Dean & Cas are in love. Whatever happens in these last episodes, we'll always have that.
