From the first handshake…
…to the first betrayal…
…and all the way through Season 11…
...Sassy fans have been madly in love with this pairing from
the get go. Why? Well, let’s take a
look!
Throughout
the series, Sam and Castiel’s relationship has been through its ups and
downs. I’ve ventured out into a yet
uncharted world (Tumblr.com) and rummaged through the mounds of Sassy fanfic
and fanart (good lord there are some amazing artists out there) to discover
some of the reasons Hunters are so thoroughly engrossed in Sassy. Here’s what I’ve come up with:
From the
get go, Sam has always believed in angels.
Even when Dean was adamant that an unknown creature was trying to trick
them into believing in angels, Sam remained stubborn in his belief; angels
existed, and no one could tell him otherwise. So when Castiel appeared to Dean,
Sam was beyond excited; finally he would get to meet an angel.
Upon their
first meeting, Sam’s large stature (thank you, Jared Padalecki, for becoming
such a behemoth) appeared smaller, almost childlike. The awestruck Winchester was speechless,
stuttering over his words and staring in the face a creature he’d believed in
all along, seemingly only half believing in what he was seeing. Sam reaches out a sole hand, and Castiel
offers a firm right hand, followed by a tender, soft grasp with his left. And when Castiel says his name, followed
conspicuously by an uncommon and somewhat devastating title, “Sam Winchester,
the boy with the demon blood,” Sam shrinks back, hurt. Yet somehow that handshake lingers in the back
of the minds of Sassy shippers.
Sam and
Castiel’s stories parallel each other heavily.
Between a hard-handed, absentee father, and an overprotective, obedient
older brother (or a few in Castiel’s case), it’s no wonder both Sam and Cas
decided to rebel. For Sam, rebellion
came in the form of going to law school.
Having always been smart, well-mannered, and studious, Sam’s dream was
to become a lawyer, rather than following in his father’s footsteps as a hunter. With this decision, Sam was cast out, with
John telling him never to return if he walked out the door. He walked anyway. For Cas, rebellion came in the form of
disobeying orders from his higher-ups, supposedly from God himself. Rather than follow the rules the other angels
deemed orders, Cas strayed from the path intended for him, and he paid the
price; his fellow angels turned against him, and, when they fell, chose to hunt
him rather than forgive him (somewhat ironic if you ask me, considering the
Judeo-Christian version of angels).
These two clearly have similarities beyond just being lovable.
Another
strong reason Sassy shippers are so in love with Cas and Sam is because of what
happened after Castiel betrayed Sam and Dean.
Castiel spent the entire season lying to Sam and Dean about where he
was, what he was doing, and, especially, not knowing who had raised Sam from
the Cage. While Dean, stubborn jackass
that he is (Bobby’s words not mine), refuses to believe Castiel would betray
them by working with Crowley, Sam seems to know it in his bones that something
isn’t right. Sam’s intuition about
Castiel is spot-on, and despite wanting it so badly to not be true, he knows it
is. So when it’s finally revealed that
Castiel has been working with Crowley in order to gain souls and end the war in
Heaven, Sam and Dean do everything within their power to stop them. When Cas intakes the millions upon millions
of souls from purgatory, and he tells Sam and Dean to kneel before their new
God, Sam gives him the eyes. But even
this cannot stop Castiel. Yet somehow,
despite this betrayal, despite the pain, the anguish that Cas has put Sam
through, Sam still forgives him. Even
before Castiel attempts to shove the Leviathan back into Purgatory, Sam prays,
out of range of hearing by Dean or Bobby, to Cas. He still believed Cas would do the right
thing, that he would do what was right, and best for the world. And of course, Sam was right.
There are many
more reasons than these that Sassy-shippers are so drawn to the pairing. However, this being a Cinematography-driven
blog, and having not yet discussed any cinematography, I will cut it off
there. I want to dive into a couple of
the scenes I mentioned above and really draw your attention to the cannonical
implications behind the way they were written and filmed.
Today I want to talk about the scene in which Sam meets Castiel for the first time. Having only heard of the angel from his brother, Sam walks into their room and, noticing Cas, immediately draws his weapon. His stern face, angry eyebrows, and defensive posture all readily imply a “I’ll shoot you no questions asked” attitude. But when Dean rushes in, explaining that this is Castiel, the angel, Sam’s demeanor changes rapidly. His weapon is sheathed just as quickly as it was drawn, and he stutters over his words, an awestruck look on his face. I want to mention the camera angles here. Despite Jared Padalecki’s enormousness, (he’s 6’4” if you didn’t know) and Misha Collins’ relatively mild stature (at 5’11” he’s the shortest of the three of them), the camera remains height level with the both of them. Even when Sam moves in to offer his hand, the camera angle then shifts to look down on them both, more behind Sam, to give off more of a sense of equality. As Cas firmly yet gently shakes Sam’s hand, the low lighting and camera angle linger on their hands. This implies significance in the scene. The way Cas grips Sam’s hand with one of his and lays the other atop it shows great care between the two. Throughout the seasons, the camera maintains this level playing field wherein neither character seems higher, taller, or more important than the other, except in rare cases. Sam and Cas are always portrayed as being equals.
Ever your Assbutt,
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