Hmm. I hear what you're saying about Sam and Dean and the Stanford estrangement, although I think Show has always implied pretty heavily that it was Sam who chose to sever all contact, rather than Dean. 'If I'd called, would you have picked up?'
Auctor.
I will give you the response I give everybody to this question. I am the only one who believes it apparently, but I still present it.
My problem is that the "would you have picked up?" is only asked once and is never answered. Jess enters the room and the boys begin talking in code to let each other know what is going on. The show never revisits this issue. We are immediately told that Dean and John live itinerant lifestyles and also use multiple aliases. Sam only had two ways to contact Dean or John. The first was their cell phones. But in Phantom Traveler, Dean tells Sam that he changed his cell number six months ago. Phantom Traveler is episode four. That means the boys have been together between one month and six weeks. That also means that Sam even if Sam had pushed Dean away, he would have had no way to contact him at all. It also means that Dean could have called Sam at any time, because once the number was changed, how would Sam know not to pick up? His caller ID wouldn't show Dean's name and unless Sam obsessively screened all calls he would have no reason to avoid a call from an unidentified number. In fact, even in the Pilot I wondered why, if Dean wanted to talk to Sam, didn't he just use a pay phone to call.
The second way to reach Dean was through the Post Office box that John had. But again it was in John's name and Sam would have no reason to believe that John would forward a message to Dean. I suppose you could argue that Sam could have called the other hunters, but in Faith Sam states that he had to go through John's diary to find out their numbers.
For me, the final piece of the puzzle is Salvation. In the scene where Sam is elated that they may have found the YED and that if they can kill it Sam can go back to Stanford and the life he left. He is abundantly clear that he intends to keep in touch with Dean and maintain the relationship, but Dean acts as if Sam is totally abandoning him.
What I am saying is that I am not willing to blame Sam for the rift. It is possible that he said don't bother me and meant it the way Dean took it. OTOH he may have said it as in "I have 3 finals and 2 huge papers due this week so don't bother me now". It is also possible that Dean, who has massive abandonment issues and very low self esteem simply took something Sam said in a way he didn't mean.
I have always felt that the fandom has jumped to a large conclusion by saying Sam was totally at fault in the rift pre-series. I also tend to think that the part of the family that moves every month, changes names, and changes phone numbers has the responsibility to keep in touch with the family member who is living under his own name, in the same city and going to a known college where his family can find him. My view is that one throw away line in the Pilot before the characters were totally established is not a lot to hang the "Sam threw Dean out of his life" cliche on the character.
We have only once seen Sam not answer Dean's calls, during S & V when Sam was deep in his demon blood addiction. Other than that he has always answered when Dean has called and has stayed with Dean practically 24/7.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2009-08-25 12:29 am (UTC)estrangement, although I think Show has always implied pretty heavily
that it was Sam who chose to sever all contact, rather than Dean. 'If I'd
called, would you have picked up?'
I will give you the response I give everybody to this question. I am the only one who believes it apparently, but I still present it.
My problem is that the "would you have picked up?" is only asked once and is never answered. Jess enters the room and the boys begin talking in code to let each other know what is going on. The show never revisits this issue. We are immediately told that Dean and John live itinerant lifestyles and also use multiple aliases. Sam only had two ways to contact Dean or John. The first was their cell phones. But in Phantom Traveler, Dean tells Sam that he changed his cell number six months ago. Phantom Traveler is episode four. That means the boys have been together between one month and six weeks. That also means that Sam even if Sam had pushed Dean away, he would have had no way to contact him at all. It also means that Dean could have called Sam at any time, because once the number was changed, how would Sam know not to pick up? His caller ID wouldn't show Dean's name and unless Sam obsessively screened all calls he would have no reason to avoid a call from an unidentified number. In fact, even in the Pilot I wondered why, if Dean wanted to talk to Sam, didn't he just use a pay phone to call.
The second way to reach Dean was through the Post Office box that John had. But again it was in John's name and Sam would have no reason to believe that John would forward a message to Dean. I suppose you could argue that Sam could have called the other hunters, but in Faith Sam states that he had to go through John's diary to find out their numbers.
For me, the final piece of the puzzle is Salvation. In the scene where Sam is elated that they may have found the YED and that if they can kill it Sam can go back to Stanford and the life he left. He is abundantly clear that he intends to keep in touch with Dean and maintain the relationship, but Dean acts as if Sam is totally abandoning him.
What I am saying is that I am not willing to blame Sam for the rift. It is possible that he said don't bother me and meant it the way Dean took it. OTOH he may have said it as in "I have 3 finals and 2 huge papers due this week so don't bother me now". It is also possible that Dean, who has massive abandonment issues and very low self esteem simply took something Sam said in a way he didn't mean.
I have always felt that the fandom has jumped to a large conclusion by saying Sam was totally at fault in the rift pre-series. I also tend to think that the part of the family that moves every month, changes names, and changes phone numbers has the responsibility to keep in touch with the family member who is living under his own name, in the same city and going to a known college where his family can find him. My view is that one throw away line in the Pilot before the characters were totally established is not a lot to hang the "Sam threw Dean out of his life" cliche on the character.
We have only once seen Sam not answer Dean's calls, during S & V when Sam was deep in his demon blood addiction. Other than that he has always answered when Dean has called and has stayed with Dean practically 24/7.
Just MHO.