S04.E13: After School Special

[DittyDotDot]

 

Fast times at Truman High. Murder brings Sam and Dean back to one of their old high schools, where they investigate possible demonic possession and take a few trips down memory lane.

 

So, I generally welcome this episode. If for nothing else, the few laughs and lighter mood. That's not to say it's not without it's problems, as is a good 75 percent of S4--like say the total miscasting of young Dean--but I welcome a little more levity and a good old fashioned ghost hunt is all. I am, however, a little disappointed that this episode isn't a little more Fast Times... and a little less After School Special. Seriously, what is it with Loflin and Dabb episodes that leave me so conflicted anyway? Is it their need to work out their bully issues on my screen or did they just not gel together well as partners? 

 

Anyhoo, I liked seeing the point in which Sam decided to go against his father's plans and started making plans for himself. And, in some ways this was the episode that 

 

 

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Sorry about that--not that anyone probably cares anyway, having issues with my laptop and was trying to use my Kindle to post that and everything went wonky and it wouldn't let me finish my stupid thought. Is that a sign that I shouldn't finish my stupid thought? Oh well, I'm gonna anyway; hope I don't destroy the universe though. ;)

 

_______

 

 

So as I was saying, in some ways this is also the episode that shows us Dean turning more to the family life while Sam begins to turn away from it. Again, two valid points of view that I can understand and connect with and neither is wrong or right, IMO.  I also think Colin Ford does a great Sam and I really like some of the transitions between current Sam and wee Sam. Too bad they totally miscast young Dean, though. And not just because he looks like he's practically the same age as older Dean (practically all shows make this mistake--aren't those Glee "kids" all pushing 30?), but I don't think Brock Kelly carries that heart and soul that Jensen does and it's what makes Dean more than your typical tough-guy and smart ass, so that was a bit of a miss to me. And that "I'm a HERO" moment should have been reworked in ADR. Just way out of tone for my taste. Overall, the case of the week wasn't bad, but I felt they worked a little too hard to make sure we would understand that bullies are really just people who have been bullied to begin with. Made it live up to it's name a little too much for my taste. And, I would be remiss in not pointing out how they have Dean lusting after high school cheerleaders (and just because they are cheerleaders, too) was a bit skeevy once again. I get it, Dean's a horn dog, but I guess I just don't find that it so humorous to see 30-year-old lusting after a teenage girl. Probably just hits a little too close to home for me though, so whatever.

 

Wow, it sounds like I really don't like this episode, but I mostly do. I like Dean pretending to be the gym teacher and I love how Jensen threw himself into that and made the most out of it and I really like the 21 Jump Street reference. I also find it amusing that it's the one time it appears Sam fits in somewhere and Dean found himself as an outsider and it their lives were still shitty. Okay, amusing is probably not the right word--how about interesting? Mostly though, Dean wears shorts and sweatpants. What a novelty! ;)

Edited September 21, 2014 by DittyDotDot

[AwesomO4000]

I agree with a lot of what you said here, DittyDotDot, and I agree. Although I wasn't as annoyed with the afterschol special feel, because even though there was a bullies are often bullied to get there message, I think part of that was for showing that Sam's memories of that time and what he'd done and how he "helped" were partially being seen through rosy glasses. For me the point was more that in trying to help, Sam really didn't and his memories weren't what he thought they were... part of the what we wish for isn't always what's best in the long run message of the episode.

 

Even though the message of this epsidoe was a bit depressing, for the most part I enjoyed it. It also seemed to be at least a better message than the one I sort of got from "Chris Angel..." In this episode Sam actually seemed to come to a long-sighted and mature conclusion. This would unfortunately be marred a bit later on by episodes to follow, but for this episode, I liked what Sam leaned here, and for a moment at least, I had hope that things were going to make a turn for the better after this episode.

 

And I agree that Collin Ford was just great here as young Sam.

[DittyDotDot]

I agree with a lot of what you said here, DittyDotDot, and I agree. Although I wasn't as annoyed with the afterschol special feel, because even though there was a bullies are often bullied to get there message, I think part of that was for showing that Sam's memories of that time and what he'd done and how he "helped" were partially being seen through rosy glasses. For me the point was more that in trying to help, Sam really didn't and his memories weren't what he thought they were... part of the what we wish for isn't always what's best in the long run message of the episode.

 

I was only whining about the heavy-handedness of the episode. I understood the point, but I don't think I needed it to be bashed over my head is all.

[AwesomO4000]

Hee DittyDotDot - I understand. This show sometimes does love its anvils. Sometimes the headaches are unavoidable.

 

I guess for me I was okay with a little headache, because at least the message wasn't as bad - or confusing - as the ones I sometimes get from the show, and it was an improvement in my opinion from the previous episode's ("Chris Angel...") message. But I entirely agree with that criticism.

[catrox14]

I want to really like the episode because I love Colin Ford as Sam but holy crap I can say this is in my strong dislike to hate category solely because they botched Dean's characterization and poor casting so badly.

 

The actor was a good actor but he was a terrible Dean. And that is on the director for allowing that to stand. I just cannot buy no matter how they sell it that Dean would ever be such a dick to a teacher, especially a female teacher.  We've seen how much he respected Mary and her memory and how much he respected Ellen. And don't think that kind of respect was learned in the few years between high school and his twenties.  I just don't think even at his snarkiest he would disrespect a female authority figure in that way. And if they wanted to sell me on that point then they needed to followup to show some kind of growth. Maybe a line of dialogue that says something like "Man I was a real asshole in high school". But all we know is that because of Dean's transient life he never actually formally graduated high school and it really fucking pisses me off that the implication is because Dean could not fit in when we know damn well Dean fits in just about anywhere even if it's him just acting. Gah. It's really irksome.

[mertensia]

Yeah when I picture teenage Dean I don't see a guy saying "sweetheart" to a female teacher and I cringe every time I heár that "Hero!" bit at the end. It was so off.

I do like that Dean pointed out to Sam that Barry had so many issues and was on so many drugs that there was no way Sam could help because yeah. Barry had major longterm mental health issues and we have no idea of his homelife and there was no way Sam could be a savior. I also like that there was acknowledgement that sometimes kids are just mean to each other.

[rue721]

Yeah when I picture teenage Dean I don't see a guy saying "sweetheart" to a female teacher and I cringe every time I hear that "Hero!" bit at the end. It was so off.

 

I agree, those scenes make me cringe. Not just because I don't think that Dean was likely to have been an arrogant prick as a teenager, but also because that kind of behavior seems more like a much younger kid trying to be cool than it does a nearly-adult teenager just trying to log his time at his ~497th high school. Flashback!Dean is written as though he's an arrogant, douche-y sixth grader imo. Aside from everything else, it also seems unbelievable to me that Dean would have been so immature at that age.

 

Something else that I disliked, though it's a little petty maybe, was the *look* of these flashbacks. They were really bright, clean and cheerful, weren't they? I think the flashbacks up until this season had a very different aesthetic. It would have been nice if the school they were going to had been a little more run-down, things had been a little more grim, the kids' problems hadn't been so sanitized (within the flashbacks themselves -- in the present day, the guys learned that the kids they'd been around *had* had real problems).

 

I think the flashbacks would have worked better altogether, and even Dean's ridiculous "hero" thing would have made more sense, if there'd been a more obvious need for monster-hunters within the flashbacks. Maybe there could have been some monster striking the kids at school, and which the boys tried to stop, but couldn't. I assume that John didn't become a demon hunter and wasn't pressuring his kids to do the same because he wanted them all to be heroes, I assume it's because he didn't want them all to be *victims.* But the world of the flashbacks seemed really very safe. IIrc, the biggest threat was a bully who was himself a lonely, confused kid -- and skinny little kid!Sam was a badass! Idk, it just didn't seem like that world was all that threatening, or that there was much of a threat of the guys getting victimized by something bigger than they could handle. Which takes away the real justification/point of being a demon hunter and makes it into some sort of egoistic "I'm going to be a hero!" thing.

 

And also, the best thing about this episode's present day storyline was its relative grimness anyway, imo. The lonely, mean kid with the dying mother, the old friend who had mental health problems and committed suicide, the present-day conversation with the teacher, in which the teacher doesn't really remember Sam, and Sam didn't really stick to taking his advice anyway -- all that stuff was pretty well done and memorable and interesting imo. But then, I just like when this show does nihilism, I guess :P

 

All that said, I like the *idea* of flashbacks to when the guys were in high school, or when Sam was still in high school and Dean was done with school. Because at that point, I imagine that Dean was hunting with John pretty much full-time and living his adult life, but Sam was still focused on school and working toward going to college. That's when their personalities caused their paths to diverge (for a while, anyway), so I think there could still be interesting stories there. But I'm just generally curious about what was going on even when Sam was in his freshman year and Dean was with John. Because I would think that going to college and living in a dorm (for 9 months straight!) with all these kids who are also looking to make new friends and start their lives and stuff would be a GIGANTIC adjustment for Sam? And clearly Dean doesn't look back on those years with nostalgia. Though I guess he was just lonely, since he didn't have Sam and then apparently he and John didn't partner up for all their hunts anymore. Well anyway! That's all a digression from a digression!

[catrox14]

Digressionception!

[Goldmoon]

I Just rewatched this one again, and always thought that YoungDean had the right look, but you are right about the heart and soul missing that JA carries in his eyes.  Also, I DO think young Dean could have been disrespectful and flippant to ALL authority figures.  He is not perfect, and his life is extraordinarily hard.  The jarring thing to me is that Young Sam and Young Dean looked to be about 10 years apart in age.  Also, I don't think it was ever said that Dean quit school at 16, but why wouldn't he?  He expected to die young and be a hunter until then.  Why are Sam and Dean enrolled in the same school, at ages 14 and18?  They made Dean too old here.  I didn't think Dean was skeevy for noting that three of the cheerleaders were legal.  :-)

[mertensia]

I had classmates who graduate at 18 because of their birthdays (before graduation). See my school disctrict went by the calendar year. So everyone born in 1979 started school the same year. So a January baby like Dean would graduate at 18. A July baby like me graduated at 17.

That said I bet as he got older his birthdates got fudged to keep him in school. Gotta protect Sam.

[Dobian]

I thought they did a great job of casting the younger Sam and Dean.  Younger Dean really felt like Dean, but he obviously was still this punk teenager who hadn't matured yet.  I wouldn't expect him to have older Dean's wisdom about certain things.  The scene with current Sam and his teacher was great.  The one problem I had with this episode is one I have with a lot of episodes.  These guys get beat the hell up a lot, and always take care of it with some band-aids, a sewing kit, and a bottle of hooch.  But I'm sorry, getting stabbed in the lung lands you in the emergency room.  They need to either tone down the injuries or more realistically depict the aftermath.

[DittyDotDot]

So, I was watching this last night and I have to eat some of my words here...not all of them though, that would be absitvely positutely nutty! ;)

I still stand by my annoyance about the bully message, but I was really touched by the part at the end where Sam thanks the teacher for taking an interest when no else did. "That matters". It's true and something every teacher should get hear from a student. So, not all the After School Special stuff is bad.

Plus, I know that Jared's mom is a teacher and I kinda find it somewhat sweet he got to give a thanks to his mom, in a way, via Sam.

[Hanahope]

Part of me wondered why bother going to school at all if its only for a couple of weeks, since some schools have different schedules, how can they really learn anything when they show up half way into one lesson, then have to leave half-way through another.  Part of me wondered why they had to leave immediately when the father came back, since he was "away" on a job, why not just continue to live where they are until dad gets another job and see whether they really had to leave that area.  If the dad isn't taking the kids along on his jobs, why not just park them somewhere and let them go to school while he goes off on hunts now and again.

[bettername2come]

Dean, I can't believe you cheated on Caroline. How dare you? I'll say this for the guy playing Dean - during the "hero" rant he does remind me of Dean talking to Henriksen on the phone and saying his dad was a hero. Their inflection is very similar especially on the word "hero." I would've preferred if there was a hunt in the flashbacks, but then I always want to see hunting in the flashbacks. As it stands, the flashbacks are a little boring. The episode is pretty boring as a whole, actually. Except for Dean in shorts. That is beautiful.

Colin Ford, as always, is excellent as young Sam even if he looked way too young to be in high school.

[AwesomO4000]

On 6/24/2017 at 11:25 PM, bettername2come said:

Colin Ford, as always, is excellent as young Sam even if he looked way too young to be in high school.

I'm not sure how old the actor really was, but it's amazing how differently kids can look during the early teen years. When I first went to high school, I still looked like I belonged in like 6th grade. At 15 or 16, there were 13 year olds who looked older than me. If Sam was going to a traditional 4 year high school and with a May birthday, he would've been 14 as a freshman. Though it's conceivable Sam might also have skipped a grade and been 13, since Dean was also still in high school, too even though he was over 4 years older than Sam. (My sister and I were only 2  1/2 years apart, but even without either of us skipping or repeating a grade, I was a senior when she was a freshman. With a December birthday, they started me early - first grade at 5, turning 6 - while my sister, with a June birthday, started at 6)

[RulerofallIsurvey]

On 6/24/2017 at 11:25 PM, bettername2come said:

Except for Dean in shorts. That is beautiful.

I'm about to wade into the very shallow end of the Supernatural pool, so be forewarned!  I guess one of the things this episode is best known for is Dean's red shorts.  But I must say: Sam looks good in white.  (When he's in the psych unit talking to April.)  Very good.  And I'd just like to thank tptb for that shot of Sam getting in the impala in those white pants.  Pamela was right about the nickel thing.  ;)

I didn't think the episode was boring, but I didn't like it trying to make me feel sorry for the kid who bullied Sam and Barry, even if little Sam really could take care of himself.  And I refuse to think/feel anything but "you go, Sam!" for that scene where he bests the larger kid.  Regardless of what happened to Dirk in his life, it was no excuse to take it out on other kids, especially since he must have gone back to bullying Barry again after Sam left, even with all the "dirk the jerk" name-calling, since let's not forget that it was Barry who slit his wrists the next year to get away from it all.

[Catfi9ht]

Hello all,

Long time lurker, very infrequent poster. Originally, I only watched up to season 8 before I gave up on this show because it changed into something I couldn't watch anymore. However, I think I have completionist OCD or something because I've begun rewatching Supernatural since season 14 will be its last. Since it's been about five years since I watched, I figured I would start from the beginning.

Anyway, this episode bothered me enough to warrant a post so here it is.

I felt like they weren't even trying to set a tone or ambiance for this episode at all. The school, the kids' clothes were all identical in the flashbacks and present. What I don't understand is why they didn't differentiate between the flashbacks and the present? In 1997, the school would have been 12 years younger so the present school should have been showing some age. Since the flashbacks were set in 1997, why were none of the kids wearing 90s attire? Obviously, I'll give the male characters a pass since they were wearing neutral clothing, but none of the female students were wearing anything from that time period. As a comparison, Buffy started in 1997 and take a look at what the kids were wearing in that season compared to the flashback here. 

In fact, this scene in the flashback, the actress wearing a circa 2009 top. The folded material and button up sleeves are a dead giveaway.

I looked up the director for this episode, Adam Kane, and this is the only Supernatural episode he ever directed. However, he's directed several of Bryan Fullers's series (Pushing Daisies and Hannibal). Both of which are highly stylized shows.

I thought the beginning of this season started out strong and was very similar in style and strength to season 3. However, the back half of season 4 just seems incredibly lazy. Maybe this was the beginning of the end of Supernatural for me. Who knows? Only time will tell.

Anyway, thanks for the great comments everyone! I've really been enjoying reading them as I've been watching the show.

[Jeddah]

Nineties kids didn’t really dress like the kids from Buffy. The way they dressed in this episode was closer to the way high schoolers dressed on a day to day basis, at least at my high school.

[Catfi9ht]

16 hours ago, Jeddah said:

Nineties kids didn’t really dress like the kids from Buffy. The way they dressed in this episode was closer to the way high schoolers dressed on a day to day basis, at least at my high school.

As someone who also graduated high school in the 90s, I disagree. Hence, my post.

We had a handful of fashion forward girls who dressed like Buffy or Cordelia, but the majority of the girls that went to my school dressed like Willow.

[DittyDotDot]

I think it would likely depend on where you went to high school. Small towns weren't generally very fashion forward and this being set in the Midwest, I'd have expected to see more jeans and T-shirts like they showed here. If it had been set in the Northwest, I'd have expected to see more grunge attire and if it had been set in California I'd have expected to see more typical TV attire of the time.

In this case, I think the show reflected the area it was set in fairly realistically except for the cheerleaders wearing their uniforms to school. That's something that always gets an eye roll out of me...or maybe that did happen at some schools, but not at any school I've ever been at.

[Jeddah]

2 hours ago, Catfi9ht said:

As someone who also graduated high school in the 90s, I disagree. Hence, my post.

We had a handful of fashion forward girls who dressed like Buffy or Cordelia, but the majority of the girls that went to my school dressed like Willow.

I guess your high school was cooler than mine. Anyone who dressed like that would have been endlessly mocked at my high school.

 

2 hours ago, DittyDotDot said:

I think it would likely depend on where you went to high school. Small towns weren't generally very fashion forward and this being set in the Midwest, I'd have expected to see more jeans and T-shirts like they showed here. If it had been set in the Northwest, I'd have expected to see more grunge attire and if it had been set in California I'd have expected to see more typical TV attire of the time.

In this case, I think the show reflected the area it was set in fairly realistically except for the cheerleaders wearing their uniforms to school. That's something that always gets an eye roll out of me...or maybe that did happen at some schools, but not at any school I've ever been at.

You’re probably right about it varying by region.

The cheerleaders at my high school wore their uniforms on game days, and the football players wore their jerseys. Now wearing a uniform for PE really struck me as strange in this episode.

[DittyDotDot]

2 minutes ago, Jeddah said:

The cheerleaders at my high school wore their uniforms on game days, and the football players wore their jerseys. Now wearing a uniform for PE really struck me as strange in this episode.

We didn't wear our uniforms or jerseys to school on game days. We were asked to dress up on game days, especially if we traveled. So, slacks and button down shirts for the boys and skirts or dresses for the girls. Cheerleaders only wore their uniforms during games or at a pep rally. But, yeah, I realize that might not have been true for other schools, but it always makes me laugh when the cheerleaders wear their uniforms to school anyway. It seems so ridiculous to me for some reason. I don't know.

As to the PE uniforms: I generally point and laugh at that too unless it's a private school. I didn't know public schools did that even back in the day, but you do see it a lot on TV for some reason.

[catrox14]

There were PE uniforms in my district which was a public school district in suburban Denver area. Cheerleaders wore uniforms, well tops anyway, and jocks wore jerseys on game days. That meant cheerleaders wore their uniforms 3 or 4 days a week depending on the time of year like winter when it was basketball, wrestling and football. So yeah that was absolutely realistic in a public school. I wore my tennis top on my game days. So it's really not unrealistic at all.

[DeeDee79]

55 minutes ago, catrox14 said:

There were PE uniforms in my district which was a public school district in suburban Denver area. Cheerleaders wore uniforms, well tops anyway, and jocks wore jerseys on game days. That meant cheerleaders wore their uniforms 3 or 4 days a week depending on the time of year like winter when it was basketball, wrestling and football. So yeah that was absolutely realistic in a public school. I wore my tennis top on my game days. So it's really not unrealistic at all.

I agree. We wore PE uniforms in middle and high school in my area ( South Jersey ) and actually in my district school uniforms are now the norm even for public school. I was a cheerleader briefly my first year of high school and we also wore parts of our uniforms on game days. BTW I'm a 90's grad also :)

Edited February 25, 2018 by DeeDee79

[gonzosgirrl]

There were PE uniforms in our highschool (very early 80's) and they were the most unflattering things ever, at least for the girls. Basically blue and white (school colours) onesies (only with short legs). We called them monkey suits. OMG I'm having flashbacks now. *shudders*

[Pondlass1]

I attended a Girls' School in London, England and wore a grey school uniform, beret in winter and straw hat in summer. You cannot begin to imagine the horrors of the PE outfits. Thank goodness no boys to see us. 

I think it's one reason I can't stand the 200th episode 

[AwesomO4000]

8 hours ago, gonzosgirrl said:

There were PE uniforms in our highschool (very early 80's) and they were the most unflattering things ever, at least for the girls. Basically blue and white (school colours) onesies (only with short legs). We called them monkey suits. OMG I'm having flashbacks now. *shudders*

Did they have zippers up the front? If so, we had the same kind of thing only in our school colors: green and white. The "shirt" part was thin green and white striped and the "shorts" part was green. They were hideous. I also went to high school in the early 80s, so maybe that was the thing back then.

So yup for us school gym uniforms were very much a thing. The cheerleaders, though, did not wear their uniforms in school, nor did the football players.

[gonzosgirrl]

1 hour ago, AwesomO4000 said:

Did they have zippers up the front? If so, we had the same kind of thing only in our school colors: green and white. The "shirt" part was thin green and white striped and the "shorts" part was green. They were hideous. I also went to high school in the early 80s, so maybe that was the thing back then.

So yup for us school gym uniforms were very much a thing. The cheerleaders, though, did not wear their uniforms in school, nor did the football players.

I Googled for giggles, and while ours had a white collar and waistband, they looked very much like this. OMG.

[Jeddah]

Just now, gonzosgirrl said:

I Googled for giggles, and while ours had a white collar and waistband, they looked very much like this. OMG.

Now why didn’t they have Dean in a uniform like that?

[AwesomO4000]

@gonzosgirrl: Heh wow. But at least it had a collar! Googling "gym uniforms 1980" I came across one almost identical to mine, but I think the shorts were a little longer on mine: my hideous gym uniform.

Edited February 28, 2018 by AwesomO4000

[catrox14]

Oh gods! LOL. At least we had shorts and t-shirt.  egads

[Iju]

firstly i wanna say that I'M SO HAPPY WE GET SOME KIDS FLASHBACKS. now as for everything afterwards i really liked the kid actor for sam. i agree that the 1940's esque edge of dean at 17-18 wasn't right, dean is a really sweet guy if nobody pisses him off, and no-one did anything to piss him off so i don't see why he acting like a jerk. then again everyone goes through phases so maybe, maybe i'll let this one slide. 

i really liked the scene when sam tore up the bully, way to go sam! taking care of his own stuff without dean, proud of you^^ <3

the scene i really hated was when dean was caught cheating and that girl got all preachy on how she knew what he was and all. okay so what, you couldn't keep your pretty boy. how does that mean you get to demand he pays you the amount of care and love to his little brother????? for one THEY ARE BROTHERS so do you want to be treated like a sibling???? and secondly he doesn't know your a**? you haven't even known each other for three weeks girl please get your head out the sand. that scene just made me want to slap her. oh and suddenly nobody wants to be his friend because of what she said, so everyone just is going to believe what she says about dean. give me a break, even if he was a jerk like the girls would turn away, LOL. nobody is gonna leave a guy who looks like dean hanging. i wish that scene wasn't rewritten but never happened.

[Katy M]

9 hours ago, Iju said:

the scene i really hated was when dean was caught cheating and that girl got all preachy on how she knew what he was and all. okay so what, you couldn't keep your pretty boy. how does that mean you get to demand he pays you the amount of care and love to his little brother????? for one THEY ARE BROTHERS so do you want to be treated like a sibling????

I don't think that's exactly what she was saying.  She was just saying that his relationship with his brother made her think there was more to him than his "tough guy" act.

9 hours ago, Iju said:

and secondly he doesn't know your a**? you haven't even known each other for three weeks girl please get your head out the sand. that scene just made me want to slap her.

If some guy is making out with me in the closet on a daily basis, I expect him not to be making out with other girls in the closet until he tells me we won't be doing that anymore.  Common courtesy.

 

9 hours ago, Iju said:

even if he was a jerk like the girls would turn away, LOL. nobody is gonna leave a guy who looks like dean hanging. i wish that scene wasn't rewritten but never happened.

Dean had known those people 3 weeks, like you said.  They'd know Amanda their whole life.  Makes sense to me that if she was popular (and based on Barry's reaction to her, she was), then the kids in the school would take her side.

On ‎2‎/‎27‎/‎2018 at 9:56 PM, gonzosgirrl said:

I Googled for giggles, and while ours had a white collar and waistband, they looked very much like this. OMG.

I actually think that's kind of cute, but maybe it looks worse when someone's wearing it?

[trxr4kids]

1 hour ago, Katy M said:

I actually think that's kind of cute, but maybe it looks worse when someone's wearing it?

It would be kinda cute on a baby not on a teen. It's weird, like some merged a cafeteria worker top with baby bloomers. Sorry Katy, I gotta put on my Project Runway voice and question your taste, lol

; )

Edited March 21, 2018 by trxr4kids

[catrox14]

3 hours ago, Katy M said:

If some guy is making out with me in the closet on a daily basis, I expect him not to be making out with other girls in the closet until he tells me we won't be doing that anymore.  Common courtesy

Unless Dean said "You're my gf",  I always thought she was jumping to conclusions that they were "going steady" or whatever kids call it these days. 

[Katy M]

1 minute ago, catrox14 said:

Unless Dean said "You're my gf",  I always thought she was jumping to conclusions that they were "going steady" or whatever kids call it these days. 

You could work that both ways.  He was jumping to conclusions that they weren't:)  But, seriously, she had invited him over to meet her parents (it's implied he probably declined), they were conversing as well as kissing.  He could have made it clear they weren't exclusive.  But, biggest thing of all, he tried to tell her that they were studying for a history test.  If he wasn't doing anything wrong, why lie about it?

But either way, she has the right to get mad about whatever she wants to get mad about.  I mean a casual acquaintance could have said some of that stuff to him just because they think it's trashy to make out in a school janitor's closet.  I'd have to agree with that assessment.  You can't expect everybody's going to approve of everything you do, or even keep quiet about it. In this case,  Dean can take it or leave it as he chooses.  And since he was literally leaving, he didn't really have to worry about it at all if he didn't want to.

[catrox14]

Just now, Katy M said:

But either way, she has the right to get mad about whatever she wants to get mad about. 

Oh I'm not saying she didn't have the right to be mad. I just don't see her being mad because she made possible assumptions. I guess back in my day, if no one says they are exclusive, and  she didn't ask, but she wanted it to be that , then well that's on her. 

They aren't in junior high. This is high school. Kids meet parents, that doesn't make them exclusive.

IMO that was just written that way to make Teen Dean a complete asshole for no good reason. Have I said how much I hate this episode?

[Iju]

14 hours ago, Katy M said:

I don't think that's exactly what she was saying.  She was just saying that his relationship with his brother made her think there was more to him than his "tough guy" act.

If some guy is making out with me in the closet on a daily basis, I expect him not to be making out with other girls in the closet until he tells me we won't be doing that anymore.  Common courtesy.

 

Dean had known those people 3 weeks, like you said.  They'd know Amanda their whole life.  Makes sense to me that if she was popular (and based on Barry's reaction to her, she was), then the kids in the school would take her side.

 

personally, i think that's dumb of her to think. sam is his little brother. loving someone's doesn't mean he isn't a tough guy, as i said he doesn't know her. so why would he care about her even close to the way he is with sam. 

also i never said that she shouldn't have gotten mad, i said how she got preachy on him because she was pissed off was dumb.

i understand how people would believe her than dean, but as i said the whole school turning on a guy with his looks? someone would be willing to risk it.

10 hours ago, catrox14 said:

Unless Dean said "You're my gf",  I always thought she was jumping to conclusions that they were "going steady" or whatever kids call it these days. 

exactly. i thought she just knew they were just kicking it just for fun. she was expecting way too much tbh.

Edited March 22, 2018 by Iju

[DittyDotDot]

7 hours ago, Iju said:

exactly. i thought she just knew they were just kicking it just for fun. she was expecting way too much tbh.

If you ask me, I think they both had misaligned expectations of what their relationship was. I think she really wanted to relationship to go somewhere and Dean, on the other hand, just wanted to have fun knowing that they would be leaving soon anyway and he'd probably never see her again. I think he set up the make out session in the closet purposely because she was getting too serious--wanting him to meet her parents and such--and thought this would be a way to cool things off. I think he thought it would be easier for her to think of him as a jerk than to just be honest with her that he didn't want the same things she did. But then she embarrassed him in the hallway instead of slinking away quietly, so he had to stand up for himself. It's kinda typical teenage drama, IMO, but I think it's a time that Dean looks back and isn't proud of himself in how he handled the situation. Which we all have those moments we didn't handle things as well as we'd have liked to and look back on it with regret, but that's how we learn and grow.  

[Iju]

2 hours ago, DittyDotDot said:

If you ask me, I think they both had misaligned expectations of what their relationship was. I think she really wanted to relationship to go somewhere and Dean, on the other hand, just wanted to have fun knowing that they would be leaving soon anyway and he'd probably never see her again. I think he set up the make out session in the closet purposely because she was getting too serious--wanting him to meet her parents and such--and thought this would be a way to cool things off. I think he thought it would be easier for her to think of him as a jerk than to just be honest with her that he didn't want the same things she did. But then she embarrassed him in the hallway instead of slinking away quietly, so he had to stand up for himself. It's kinda typical teenage drama, IMO, but I think it's a time that Dean looks back and isn't proud of himself in how he handled the situation. Which we all have those moments we didn't handle things as well as we'd have liked to and look back on it with regret, but that's how we learn and grow.  

ahhh okay, if it's teen drama then i bow out. i never experienced the thing since i was homeschooled so the whole school culture just goes right by me and my siblings, it's so strange to us.

[The Companion]

This one was pretty bleak. I continue to find the flashbacks heartbreaking. As raised above, why even move them from school to school if you are going to be away anyway. 

I don't buy into the bully was actually sad twist. I mean, regardless of what he went through he was torturing another kid. It seemed a stretch to have him sticking up for the bullied. Maybe I just have the feels after I was on the receiving end for years. 

Everything up to and including the discussion with the teacher was depressing.