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mittensmorgul · 7 years

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Bon Jovi rocks... on occasion...

I found it REALLY odd and jarring that, while testing Dean’s memory in the motel room after the LAMP incident, that Sam chose BON JOVI, of ALL bands, to see if Dean could remember the band members’ names.

I mean??? We know for a fact from 4.18 that Dean’s two favorite songs were both by Led Zeppelin. My first thought was confusion over why Sam didn’t ask him to name the members of Led Zeppelin, because that would’ve been the obvious choice here... but no. He picked Bon Jovi.

And that told me something SIGNIFICANT. And I’ll explain why.

Bon Jovi has been referenced in a small handful of episodes.

2.14, Born Under A Bad Sign

The first Bon Jovi reference in the series was this:

Dean: You checked in two days ago under the name Richard Sambora. Of course, I think the scariest part about this whole thing is the fact that you're a Bon Jovi fan.

The name Sam used while he was possessed by Meg and had no memory or awareness of what he’d done, was a member of Bon Jovi. 12.11 reminded me strongly of Dean trying to help Sam recover his memories by revisiting the places he went while possessed. Sam did the same thing for Dean in 12.11.

Their conversation with Elke STRONGLY reminded me of Dean’s conversation with the gas station market cashier. WHO EXAGGERATED WHAT SAM APPARENTLY STOLE TO GET MORE MONEY OUT OF DEAN. Like Elke exaggerated her story to Sam trying to elicit SOME sort of reaction out of Dean.

So we already have a connection to memory loss, deception, attempting to recover memories that have been manipulated or altered by outside forces.

3.16, No Rest For The Wicked

While driving to make one last attempt to stop Lilith and save Dean from going to Hell, Bon Jovi’s “Dead or Alive” plays on the radio. Sam and Dean sing along to it. Sam gets into it, and Dean looks like he’s already dead inside.

(aside to say that the face Dean makes while singing it reminded me STRONGLY of the face at the end of 7.11 when he was trying to use Frank’s advice to paste on a smile and be “professional” or just give up. In other words, the most horrible smile in the history of smiles)

Because even in that episode, Sam seemed surprised:

DEAN: You know what I do want? [He reaches down to the radio and starts up Bon Jovi's "Wanted Dead or Alive". SAM looks a bit "eeh?"] SAM: Bon Jovi? DEAN: Bon Jovi rocks, on occasion. He looks over at SAM to underline this statement. When SAM looks away DEAN turns back to the road and begins to sing along with Bon Jovi. [...] [DEAN begins to lose the will to sing and his smile is beginning to fade. SAM just continues to sing, laugh and smile, not noticing how DEAN is suddenly taking in the lyrics, realizing how much they actually fit him and what is about to come. The camera zooms on him as his smile completely vanishes, as he's staring out on the road.]

DEAN WAS NEVER THE BON JOVI FAN. THE BON JOVI FAN WAS SAM. They were driving to Dean’s likely death and a one-way ticket to Hell, AND THIS WAS DEAN TRYING TO PUT ON A BRAVE FACE AND DISTRACT SAM WITH SOMETHING THAT SAM LOVED.

This was Performing Dean trying like hell to keep that mask in place for Sam’s sake.

7.05, Shut Up, Dr. Phil

Once again, it’s Sam who chooses the alias “Agent Sambora.” We never learn what Dean’s FBI alias was in that episode. Dean wasn’t even WITH Sam during the conversation where Sam used the alias. Dean was busy having a chat with Chris the Hairdresser (played by the same guy who played Akobel in 12.10).

After those two separate respective interviews, Sam and Dean are shown walking down different streets while swapping info over the phone about what they each learned independently.

Aside again, because I love this exchange Dean has with Chris in the salon:

DEAN: Oh. Basically, you're saying that this couldn't have happened. CHRIS: Basically, I'm saying it couldn't have happened.

While standing there looking at the physical proof that yes, it did actually happen.

DEAN: [...] Of course, they don't have pockets in those robe thingies that they make you wear. SAM (on phone): [laughs] I didn't realize you were such a spa expert. DEAN (on phone): Shut up. I observe with my eyes.

Again, Dean floundering to keep up his performance while Sam teases him for knowing that spa robes don’t have pockets... >.>

Dean might observe with his eyes, but he’s prevented Sam from seeing a lot of things over the years with that heavy-duty Performance mask.

Plus, 7.05 was all about witchcraft, deception, and misunderstandings. Remember poor Jenny? Who’d been hexed into finding hearts in her cupcakes? HEARTS?! IN MY CUPCAKES?! Because Maggie thought her husband was having an affair with her? Sam and Dean thought so at first too, but Jenny cleared that misunderstanding up:

JENNY: Don Stark is my boss. That's it. He's married, for God sakes. DEAN: Yeah, well... JENNY: Me and Don Stark. Ew.

8.03, Heartache

It’s again SAM who uses the alias Agent Sambora. In an episode about loss of identity via transplanted organs asserting the personality of their original owner on the recipients, DUE TO THE EFFECTS OF AN ANCIENT CURSE.

After his long, long life, not wanting to live on after his true love eventually died of old age, a woman who was already old enough to pass as his mother, Brick chose to end his own life instead. After generations of being forced to reinvent himself every few decades and essentially reinvent himself because he didn’t age or die...

But then the recipients of his organs inherit his curse and lose themselves to his identity.

Loss of identity was huge in 12.11.

And again in 8.03, we never learn what alias Dean was using while Sam again chose a Bon Jovi reference.

11.11, Into the Mystic

Dean muses on how nice the retirement home is, mentioning that maybe they should look into it, and again IT’S SAM WHO BRINGS UP BON JOVI:

Dean: So no retirement, huh? Sam: Hey, you're the one who's always wanted to go out 'blaze of glory' style, preferably while the Bon Jovi song is playing. Dean: I am a candle in the wind.

“Blaze of Glory” is a Bon Jovi song, and “I am a candle in the wind” is one of the lines from the first verse.

But this is all part of Dean’s “I’ll die hunting” refrain that we’ve been seeing again in s12. Because Dean just believes he’ll go out that way. Because every hunter he’s ever know does go out that way.

All this in an episode where Cas has been taken over by Lucifer, and Dean’s REALLY unsettled that there’s something wrong with Cas. He’s being deceived, manipulated, and used as bait, yet he doesn’t even know it. He’s just got a weird feeling at this point.

It’s the “something’s wrong and I can’t put my finger on it” feeling that keeps hunters alive, frankly.

Then we have Dean’s entire conversation with Mildred about finding happiness and following your heart:

DEAN [Chuckles]: You ever miss life on the road? MILDRED: Nah. Nah, I had my fun. You want to know the secret to living a long and happy life? DEAN: Actually, yes, I do. MILDRED [Placing her hand on Dean’s chest and patting it] Follow your heart. You do that, all the rest just figures itself out. I did that. I followed my heart. Traveled the world, made people smile, forget about their problems for a while. And then my heart said, “Well, you're done”. I had my fill and... And I retired. And I love it. [Mildred pats Dean’s knee for emphasis]

Which is doubly interesting when compared with Sam and Dean’s lines at the very end of 12.12:

SAM: You know, I gotta be honest. I was actually, ah, a little jealous at first. DEAN: Of what, the curse that nearly killed me? SAM: No, just... you know. Some of the things we’ve done. We’ve had this... weight. Forever. And seeing it gone... you looked happy. DEAN: [he looks down, doesn’t meet Sam’s eyes, and seems uncomfortable] Huh. Well, look, was it nice to drop our baggage. [he shrugs and looks up at Sam] Yeah, maybe. Hell, probably. But it wasn’t just the crap that got lost. I mean, everything. It was us it was what we do, you know. All of it. So... if that’s what being happy looks like... I think I’ll pass.

BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT DEAN ALREADY KNOWS THE SECRET TO A LONG AND HAPPY LIFE IS TO FOLLOW YOUR HEART. And without his memories? That’s not happiness. That’s delusion. It’s a lie.

A performance.

12.04, American Nightmare

This wasn’t a direct Bon Jovi reference, but I wrote a thing trying to explain the difference between the “Butt Rock” that Sam has always been a fan of, that Dean was so disdainful of when they were talking about Vince Vincente.

http://mittensmorgul.tumblr.com/post/154601623940/brainfuzz-mittensmorgul

Even the Superwiki pointed this out in the reference notes for the episode:

It can be assumed with Sam being a fan of Bon Jovi and Vince Vincente, that his musical tastes veered more towards '80s hair/glam metal growing up, which is in contrast to Dean and John's classic hard rock and heavy metal tastes.

BECAUSE BON JOVI ONLY ROCKS ON OCCASION. I think Dean grudgingly liked a couple of their songs.

BON JOVI IS NOT DEAN’S KIND OF MUSIC. IT’S SAM’S. WHICH DEAN HAS SUFFERINGLY TOLERATED FOR SAM’S SAKE. FOR YEARS. Because Dean knows Sam FAR better than Sam knows Dean.

Lizbob wrote a thing yesterday before 12.11 aired that said that this was going to be something KEY to this episode, this disconnect between the brothers, and the fact that Dean has functioned as a pseudo-parent to Sam.

http://mittensmorgul.tumblr.com/post/157037949755/i-cant-wait-for-dean-to-enter-the-amnesia-phase

And my absolute rant of a post about the promo:

http://mittensmorgul.tumblr.com/post/156996781305/oh-god-sorry-but-thats-a-clusterfuck-of-promo

Because that’s pretty much how the episode panned out.

An exposition on Performing Dean.

#spn s12 spoilers #spn 12.11 #performing dean #sanitized for sammy #the story became the story #spn 2.14 #spn 3.16 #spn 7.05 #spn 8.03 #spn 11.11 #spn 12.04 #the rashomon effect #here have my belated thoughts on the whole love... and love #parallels #spn music

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