Throwback Thursday: Dean H/C Highlights from 5x20 "The Devil You Know"

[kalliel]

Hey everyone: Welcome to Episode 1 of Throwback Thursday at hoodie_time, giving you the greatest in Dean H/C since… late September 2013! Here at Throwback Thursdays, we post a few clips of Dean H/C from a random episode, with commentary, in the hopes of re-living all of Dean H/C greatest hits*, stimulating discussion, the posting of related gifs, moans of ecstasy, really anything else this inspires for you.

Our first throwback is to 5x20 "The Devil You Know," written by Ben Edlund and directed by Robert Singer. If you can remember what this episode was about at all (I didn't), Dean H/C probably isn't the first thing to come to mind. It's not exactly "On the Head of a Pin."

Oh, but how wrong you are!

Please, join me in a clip show of good old fashioned demon vs. Dean beatdowns, Hellhound panic, post-demonic beatdown chair sitting, and a bonus clip of Dean trapped in a seriously suspect bathroom, because why not.

* Not in the "wow, this is such a classic Dean H/C moment" but in the "ouch, that must have hurt" sense of 'hit.' Uhhh yeah. XD


01. What I want is retribution. And I'm gonna rip it RIGHT OUT OF YOUR ASS.

This is extremely straightforward hurt!Dean. Highlights include: great preemptive facial expressions, Dean on the floor, abdominal bruising, blood/head wounds, Dean propping himself up against elevator doors, and shakily getting up off the floor.

I feel like standard procedure for "escaping murder in the penthouse" would be the same as "escaping fire in the penthouse," i.e. use the stairs, so the whole elevator deal is intriguing to me. The elevator is faster and easier, and probably closer, but if Silence of the Lambs taught me anything, they are also a Bad Idea. Of course, being thrown down several flights of stairs by demon!Brady probably isn't much healthier than being trapped in an elevator with him, so maybe "In case of emergency, use stairs" doesn't apply.

Cinematically, Dean stumbling around a dark, enclosed space with reflective walls was pretty cool, though.


02. Okay, remember when I made brief mention of the chair scene I liked so much? This is that scene. It's totally innocuous, don't get me wrong, but that's just the way I like it. Dean's just chillin' in this random chair, but his posture is so remarkably un-chill. Like, what part of that looks comfortable at all? When you take into account what Brady just did, you can imagine that now that the adrenaline's worn off and his body's cooled down, that must hurt like a bitch. Also, I just like the way his eyes snap up to Crowley; he was definitely lost in thought, but what about? Not that there's a dearth of likely suspects at this point. :P

03. Gross bathroom. Dean splashing water on his face. It's one of those things that Dean does randomly often (relative to anyone else in the show), and I'm particularly endeared to it. Awww, sleep deprived!stressed!Dean. <3

04. So Dean's only been back from Hell for two years, and these things dragged him under. And the last time they came around, Jo died. I love the hound!POV cinematography, and the general destruction of the set here, but Dean's terror comes through really well here, too. I mean, LOOK at those expressions.

And to find out that the prospective king of hell has a leash on the things that killed him--the intense vulnerability of that, that power dynamic--there's power in that. Not to mention the emotional manipulation of not, you know, letting Dean know this beforehand. Because without that key bit of knowledge, being trapped in a house with a hellhound only ends one way.

Also, If you're not feeling the Dean H/C, the clip where Dean vs. Hellhounds clip begins with an extremely bad-but-nonetheless-hilarious zoom in to a box of salt. And questionable camerawork is always fun. XD

Nostalgia? Ecstasy? LOLs? Inspiration? Tell the world! Go wild.


* For future Throwback Thursdays, I am currently taking moment/episode requests, because my selection of 5x20 was completely arbitrary. What throwback do YOU want to see on hoodie_time? Feel free to PM me at kalliel or e-mail me at ryuusenka @ gmail.com.

Comments

[boysinperil.livejournal.com]

Oooh, that was fun, thank you!! I have to put in a vote for Yellow Fever; I know people think of it as a funny episode but it's really very heavy on Dean!angst.

[kalliel]

Yes! I feel like it's one of the most polarizing Dean episodes (like, as a Deangirl, I feel like the question that gets raised is always WELL DID YOU LOVE IT OR DID YOU HATE IT); personally, I'm a fan, both for the humor and the angst. And the woodchips. And Lilith. And that poor sheriff guy.

And yay, glad you enjoyed!! I had a lot of fun going through that ep, because as I was flashing through the scenes I was like LOL WELP. I DEFINITELY ONLY REMEMBER THE VERY END OF THIS. HA!

[geckoholic]

Have I told you lately that I love you? ;D

[kalliel]

YESTERDAY YOU DID, POSSIBLY. :PPPP I LOVE YOU TOO.

I'm really pleased by the response to these clips; they're unlisted on YT, so all of the views are from our lovely HT compatriots. This impresses me a lot because "Man, I really want to rewatch 5x20 right now!" said no one, ever. XD

[geckoholic]

POSSIBLY. ANYWAY, IT BEARS REPEATING. DAILY. ♥

It's part of a couple of eps that I had a really difficult relationship with when they aired but that I love the fuck out of in hindsight. Ah, S5, my love. XD

[skeletncloset.livejournal.com]

God, the guy who played Brady is a PHENOMENAL ACTOR! He was really scary! Why did Brady want Dean again?

I think Dean took the elevator because he was that hurt and concussed. If you've ever had a concussion it is seriously disorienting and debilitating. So it made perfect sense to me. He was in "gotta escape mode".

[kalliel]

Aw man, I'm gonna have to disagree with you on the Brady end; I remember nicknaming him OB when I first saw this episode, for Overblown, LOL. (That and at the time my sister was dating a guy named Brady, so it was an attempt to diffuse awkward name associations.) But as far as his desire for Dean goes, he was working under Pestilence, and he was angry on behalf of Pestilence because Sam and Dean had just killed War and Famine and were, naturally, gunning after Pestilence and Death next. And since Crowley so considerately delivered Dean to his office, hell, why not beat the shit out of him??

I gotta say, thank you for this dear, dear gift, Brady. Why not, indeed. XD

[skeletncloset.livejournal.com]

YOU WEREN'T SCARED? I WAS SCARED! HE WAS SCARY! At least he was in the scene I watched. I haven't seen the actor in anything else.

[kalliel]

I think the whole corporate thing must have blunted his menace for me. He just has such a sinosoidal way of speaking, idek!

[skeletncloset.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sensitive to facial expression. Like, really sensitive. You can look at me wrong and I'll cry . . . well I used to, before meds (smiles crazily).

[skeletncloset.livejournal.com]

I think the splashing water thing is a Jensen thing. He did it in DarkAngel as Alec too. Sam is always washing his hands.

My therapist taught me to splash extremely cold water on my face to shock my system from extreme emotion. There's an actual physiological response to it. Like taking deep breaths.

Vasovagal stimulation, slows your heart rate.

[borgmama1of5.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the cool clips! You know, if any other human took those kicks from Brady, they'd be in a hospital...

[kalliel]

You're welcome! Glad you enjoyed. And haha, I know, right? Maybe the angel-proofing sigils on Dean's ribs have the added bonus of making them titanium-grade. And uh, also extends this magical property to his internal organs and other important viscera! XDD

[justlikeswimmn.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much for the episode revisit! Sorry to be so late to comment. I loved the elevator scene, a brief interlude that added to the excitement and tension. And the hell hounds! Run Dean, run! No one can do 'hurt' and 'angst' better than Jensen Ackles. These clips make me hungry for more Dean hurt - does that make me a bad person? Well, maybe...

I'd make sure to be up on my tetanus shots before using that sink. Yuck!

[kalliel]

Comments are never late! They arrive precisely when they meant to. :D JA is so ridiculously good at this kind of thing, seriously. It's crazy how good he is at this; it's to the point where whenever there's on-screen H/C in other things I'm just like, eh, Jensen could sell it better.

I hope Carver and JA and S9 see fit to showcase these talents for us. That's all I really want out of life, in the end.

But actually though. @__@

[i-speak-tongue.livejournal.com]

Oh, wow. THis is the best idea!!! I'm so glad I came back to hang around for the meme! I'll definitely be checking back every week for these now! YAY!

Can I make a request for 3.14, Long Distance Call? There's not a heck of a lot of hurt!Dean (there is a bit where he wrestles with the guy he thinks is demon), but there are so many moments where he just makes me want to cry. Especially at the end where he admits to Sam just how scared he is of going to hell. Oh my bb!!! D : D :

[hoodietime.livejournal.com]

Yay, I'm so glad! And I'm thrilled people are enjoying these; I figure I make such a habit out of picking through and regularly rewatching Dean H/C scenes, lol, I should put these magical forays to good use and at lease share them! XD

And ooooooh, good one! Can do. As much as I adore big blow outs like 4x16, I really do think in my heart of hearts I'll always be more of a 'minute H/C' person. And 3x14 is great for some of those lesser-known/forgotten moments. I think possibly because, like, 5x20, it's one of those episodes that no one really specifically pulls up to rewatch in isolation.

There won't be a throwback this Thursday because the meme is going on, but the week after that--3x14! :D