Houses of the Holy

[green_apple]

Supernatural has once again blown my mind. And I am, oh so grateful.

“Houses of the Holy” was everything I could have dreamt of, could it have been better? Possibly. Did it make me want to write a Thank-You note to Kripke for coming up with a show like this? Definitely.

“Faith” was one of my favorite eps last season. Still I wished for a real messenger from God in there somewhere, Layla could be that messenger, her willingness to believe even after she didn’t get her miracle, even after that she still believed there was something grater. I could say that she still believed because others got healed in front of her eyes, but all that proof tends to go elsewhere when your prayers don’t get an answer. This one, on the other hand sent a message so powerful the boys had no choice but to hear it, maybe there isn’t a whole lot of freewill there, but I think that is not what freewill is all about. Yes the priest’s actions were misguided, but if we abide by the idea that everything happens for a reason, we could argue that without such a misguidance, Dean’s doubts wouldn’t have risen. And Sam wouldn’t have had a reason to doubt either.

Doubt is good people, doubt allows us to see things from different perspectives, doubt opens our eyes, or closes them, doubt is the mother of ambiguity and this show is about nothing but ambiguity.

Here they gave us ambiguity but also a glimpse of balance, the possibility of a grater power giving options, and letting people chose what to believe and why. I always felt that our boys went through a lot of crap, and there had to be some compensation for all of that. There had to be some reason to fight for, something beyond vengeance, granted is very hard for anybody like them to get into that kind of life just for the heck of it, but still, there had to be a reason to hunt something other than The Demon. They both needed that, Sam needed to believe that he can be saved because there is a savior entity, and Dean needed to believe that there was a chance for his burdens to be lighten up a bit, for him to be helped somehow, I really think that this “feeling” could help him deal; as long as he keeps some healthy dose of cynicism, I don’t see the harm in giving him something more to hang on to, instead of just Sam.

And Sammy, oh you poor baby. He wanted to believe so bad, it broke my little sappy heart. And he prays… I knew that, I don’t know how, I just did.

cherryscott said here that “Dean just looked betrayed, like it's not fair that Sam can believe and he can't” and that is so true. Is like there’s one more thing to add to this emotional separation between this two, I mean, first Sam has visions that turn out to come true, then he’s supposed to be a future murderer, and now Sam believes whereas Dean can’t. Seriously, I’ve duct-taped my heart back together some many times already, that it lost it’s original shape.

I guess what Sam forgot was that the thing with faith is that you have to have it just because, without needing further proof of it. Of course all they could get was a situation where doubt happened, where they could question what they believed in, where their philosophical set ups could be challenged, that’s the trick. Dean got that, he thought he saw the will of God, he didn’t come back claiming his undying love for God and that he was joining a seminar, he just said it was possible that this things were real; and it makes all the sense in the world, he’s been left down by this God so many times it would be nearly impossible for him to just blindly jump into it, but still, he wondered, he questioned his convictions, he opened a door. Unfortunately for Sam I think it was the opposite, I’m not sure a door closed on him, its just that the one opened for him is different from Dean’s, Sam needed to see the possibility of redemption, he needed to see that the priest could be forgiven and all that, maybe he didn’t get it that way and there is where freewill comes into play. Maybe I’m just reading too much into it…

What if the parts were played differently, what if it had been Sam the one to go after the guy, he’d have killed him and then he could have seen it as the fulfillment of his destiny, he became a killer and his soul was lost; Dean would have remained attached to his idea of supernatural = evil and when Sam came back…

“But you’re just one person Dean” this line got me thinking that maybe Sam needs to learn that people make their own choices, they make their own beds, they don’t have them made by a demon or an angel, they do it themselves and that’s what counts. He wanted to believe there was a greater good looking out for him, and now he realizes there is none, but he has Dean, and maybe Dean is that greater good, just not in the clothes he would expect it to wear… I’m still figuring out what to do whit that line, its kind of inconsistent with Sam’s character, yet it sounds exactly like what he’d say.

And the acting… Oh God the acting, that in itself is a little piece of heaven. We all know Jensen is a god amongst men, and he’s a master at his craft, so I wasn’t at all surprised to be on the verge of tears with him and the story of what his mother used to tell him every night, and the confusion in the end, mixed with awe and hope! But Jared, he’s improved a hell of a lot since S1 hasn’t he? I’m so proud of him! All the innocence when he saw the angel the first time, and all that sadness and disappointment when learning that it wasn’t an angel at all, the longing and slight anger when talking to Dean… man! Its heaven I tell ya.

I LOVE OUR SHOW SO DAMN MUCH!

I want more of this, I really do…

Comments

[dazedizzy.livejournal.com]

my brain is currently fried from 4 hours of martial arts in the morning, and a really long, boring awards ceremony for community service at night...sigh...

but, i just wanted to tell you that i agree with several of your insights about this episode. This and Faith are also two of my all-time favorites. The boys really wrestle with more than just the supernatural in this episode, they wrestle with themselves and the things that keep them moving forward.

I loved both the boys' acting in this one as well...the minute changes in their expressions conveyed so much.

In fact, I agree with a lot of what you've said...except for the "But Dean, you're only one person," line from Sam. I really think that it's a very Sam-like thing to say. He has been Scully to Dean's Mulder...meaning that while he believes in his brother and all that, he has to believe that there is something greater out there than just the two of them. Dean seems to always have been okay with the smaller version of their world: him, Sam, Dad, the Demon, and the Hunt. Sammy has always been about the bigger picture...and that includes faith. That's why he prays. It's part of the bigger picture that he sees...

anyway, brain fried, going to bed early. night, night!

[penandnotebook]

It's part of the bigger picture that he sees...
Yeah, I know, and that's why I don't really know what to do with it. Sam's always supporting the "lets save people" motto of Dean, but he tends to forget that people isn't exactly always innocent, that many times the evil part of the deal comes from their choosing (Nightmare, Simon Said, Crossroad Blues), hell he's even ignoring the part where he gets to decide whether or not to become evil and join The Demon, because if it wasn't a decision he could make, then Mr. Yellow-Eyed Demon (btw, what kind of a creepy name is that?, isn’t it supposed to be like, creepy?) would have had his wicked way with him a loooong time ago, I think. So that has consistency with his belief in something greater, yet it sounded... off somehow, don't ask me why, I just felt it that way. Possibly is just me PMSing.

And have you noticed how Sam always "gets" the girl, he's Bonny to Dean's Clyde, Scully to Dean's Mulder; and this stuff is cannon!