Sometimes it’s really important what you order at that weird, glowy bar or diner…
I’ve always liked this trope where the protagonist is facing some huge existential choice like whether to continue on their journey or pack it up and go home, or whether to live or die (which in this context is basically the same thing because when the fictional character packs it up, their story is over), and they work through their options at a supernatural facsimile of a bar or diner as if their choice boils down to what they want to order from the menu.
What do you want? Choose your own destiny, and then decide whether or not you want fries with that.
And then you have “The Good Place” which has already used both a bar and a diner to discuss Eleanor’s choices. (She’s definitely going to get fries with that.) The difference here is that the bar and diner are real places, but the person with whom she is discussing things is still a supernatural being.
Yes, they’re limnal spaces. Neither here, nor there. A place of transit, transition, transaction. Like a truck stop. 🙂
SPEEDY VISUAL SCENE DISSECTION: SPN 14×03 5:50 – 7:04
Technically two intercut scenes, but shush. I wanted to talk about this scene because it’s got some fantastic subtle cues in the background to give us extra information, as well as emphasising the important parts of the dialogue.
First up – Jody texting with Claire. What a neat and tidy way to let us know that Jody and Claire are on good terms, that Claire is at home, but that she’s still hunting. Plus we get the context of their deal that Jody deals with human cases, Claire with monsters, in all of five seconds. That’s some deft exposition. It also sets up for the scene developing; Jody texts Claire that everything is no-monsters, so we know she’s working a human murder case.
Jody immediately takes the call from Sam, but she also gets up from her desk to take it. This takes her into a new part of the room, and suddenly she’s backlit with red light, which immediately warns us something is wrong, and the SPN fish is in the background. That fish shows up a lot in the set dressing, and it’s always symbolising something being amiss. In a similar vein, we get the deer head behind Jody, for hunting. This isn’t giving us new information, but it’s reaffirming the dialogue that follows. Jody’s case isn’t what she thinks it is, it’s a monster hunt.
Back at the bunker: Let’s start with a quiet moment of appreciation for the costume change from Michael’s white shirt/white-T ensemble to Dean’s black/brown layering. My boy Dean rejecting Michael in every aspect, but it also hints to Dean’s mindset. He’s gone dark, depressed, and he’s overshadowed by his experiences as a vessel.
TFW are presenting a united front. Dean sat down centrally with Sam & Cas standing at either side of him is a clear visual of their support for him (sword and shield). But again there’s a sense of being overwhelmed, overshadowed; Dean looks small and defensive, arm’s folded. There’s a beat where Cas glances at Sam over the top of Dean’s head, and it excludes Dean from their (silent) dialogue. They’re treating Dean as separate.
screencaps from homeofthenutty
BTW: that last screencap there?
With the soft backlighting above his head and Sam and Cas hovering behind him like that, Dean looks like he’s got a halo and wings.
Reminds me of my mom getting remarried several years ago, for about a weekend – dude waited until after the wedding to tell her he expected her at waiting at home with dinner waiting when he finished work.
I dunno, like I get that this version of manhood is “normal” but goddamn is it the most brittle, contemptable fuckin thing
I thought this might be irrelevant to me but it’s got great advice on what to do when someone ignores something that you tell them repeatedly that you hate/makes you uncomfortable/feel like shit
Hearseeno 