That post about how Charlie sees Dean as an accomplished military doctor got me thinking about how other characters see him. I mean, we know how Sam sees him, he tells him straight up at the end of 8x14. But how do other characters view him, and what do they tell us about Dean himself? (this isn't a gifset ask I'm just genuinely curious. That Charlie post is so fucking good, I just wanted more like it is all. I love your blog, btw)
This is a fascinating question, because I don’t think the people in Dean’s life see him in the same way and yet there is one thing all the people in his life believe about him. We have Cas, who has said he sees Dean as a role model (10.09):
someone to look up to and we know Dean doesn’t feel that way about himself at all so it’s interesting that Cas is an angel; this powerful force and Dean is someone he looks up to, and that’s just pretty damn powerful. He’s been following Dean’s lead for a long time and that’s because he sees something worth following.
I think Bobby sees Dean in a very different light. Not that he doesn’t think Dean is a good man; he does. (gifs from 4.22 and 7.10)
But he also has this very strange idea that Dean is unbreakable. He tends to treat Dean much more harshly than he does Sam, and I think that says a lot about how he views each of them. In 7.09, right before he dies, they both have a private chat with him and both of them are equally messed up.
And Sam’s halliucinating Lucifer:
He’s much gentler when he talks to Sam. Because of scenes like these, I think it’s fair to say Bobby sees Sam as more fragile, whereas he thinks Dean is/should be tough enough to take anything and not let his emotions get in the way.
It’s interesting because Dean tends to project this part of himself into the world (not that this is who he thinks he is but how he protects himself) and this I think he gets from both Bobby and from John, who viewed Dean in a similar way.
On the flip side of that is Jody, who can see that Dean is breakable and offers gentleness in response to that (12.22).
But Jody also sees Dean as a good man (from 12.06);
which means her view of Dean is much more accurate (and more helpful to Dean, himself honestly). And you can see just from Mary’s expression here, that part of her guilt is because she knows it too. Which makes it even harder to face them probably, if she’s struggling with her own self-worth issues. So, there you have it: they all think he’s a good man, someone to admire and emulate. Because he is, and I hope someday Dean will know it too.
