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I adore Supernatural but it’s not for the plot, at least not at episode level. The overall myth-arc fills me with love as does the angst, intense focus on family and those oh so manly brother dynamics.
Supernatural 2x05 – Simon Says – On Mind Control
In which it’s OK to do Bad Things to people so long as they like it.
This appears to be a blind spot that I blame on the writers using Andy as a plot device rather than writing him as a person.
Who is this character and what is he doing?
In brief: Sam and Dean Winchester investigate one of Sam’s visions and find Andy, another man with psychic powers. Sam is convinced Andy is an Evil murderer and Dean is equally convinced Andy is OK. He also turns out to have an Evil Twin called Anson/Webber who kills people because they ‘kept him away’ from Andy.
Andy uses his abilities to lead a laid back life of redneck grunge/alternative heaven. We hear about him getting debt collectors to leave and never come back, we see him leaving a woman’s apartment after apparently spending the night, taking a random person’s coffee, taking Dean’s car, forcing Dean to tell the truth in front of Sam, making someone let them into an office and later battling his brother Anson to save his ex-girlfriend Tracy.
Andy doesn’t seem driven to understand his ability or question it. He just accepts it and uses it when he feels like it. He’s easy going, relaxed and acts on whims; he doesn’t appear to be questioning his ability, regarding it as a gift and taking it for granted.
How do we feel about him?
This episode focussed heavily on the Winchester brother dynamic and let the twins and their powers function as a backdrop. This is a crying shame as the effort to nut out the internal dynamics of the Winchesters let some very unpleasant stuff go by without engaging with it.
Andy uses his abilities right, left and centre. No one dies and everyone smiles. Andy is the Good Twin. Apparently we like him, or at least the Winchesters do, and we’re given to believe he’s not very ambitious and that his use of his ability is petty.
Anson is the Evil Twin, not only does he kill people (one ‘suicide’ with a shotgun and one ‘suicide’ with a petrol hose) but when he uses his mind control on Tracy, she cries. Making girls cry is bad, Mm’Kay? No question he’s Evil with a great big E.
What is Andy doing ethically?
He’s getting people to do whatever he wants; he’s stealing things both large and small, altering people’s perceptions and making them like it. He may or may not have been taking advantage of women sexually.
An example is the woman Andy waved goodbye to in the window. We have no evidence of him using his powers on her but we have no evidence that he didn’t. He says later in the episode says he never used his ability on Tracy, which leaves me with the nasty impression he used them on other women.
It doesn’t matter what you do to people so long as they still like you after, interesting given Andy can *make* you like him.
Or rather that would be the implication if I thought the writers knew what they were implying with their treatment of Andy. I believe they were so heavily focussed on the Winchesters that they simply didn’t engage with Andy as a real character and didn’t look at what his behaviour says.
Dodgy Ethics, Heroes 1x05 and 1x06, Torchwood 1x01, Torchwood 1x07
Supernatural 2x05 – Simon Says – On Mind Control
In which it’s OK to do Bad Things to people so long as they like it.
This appears to be a blind spot that I blame on the writers using Andy as a plot device rather than writing him as a person.
Who is this character and what is he doing?
In brief: Sam and Dean Winchester investigate one of Sam’s visions and find Andy, another man with psychic powers. Sam is convinced Andy is an Evil murderer and Dean is equally convinced Andy is OK. He also turns out to have an Evil Twin called Anson/Webber who kills people because they ‘kept him away’ from Andy.
Andy uses his abilities to lead a laid back life of redneck grunge/alternative heaven. We hear about him getting debt collectors to leave and never come back, we see him leaving a woman’s apartment after apparently spending the night, taking a random person’s coffee, taking Dean’s car, forcing Dean to tell the truth in front of Sam, making someone let them into an office and later battling his brother Anson to save his ex-girlfriend Tracy.
Andy doesn’t seem driven to understand his ability or question it. He just accepts it and uses it when he feels like it. He’s easy going, relaxed and acts on whims; he doesn’t appear to be questioning his ability, regarding it as a gift and taking it for granted.
How do we feel about him?
This episode focussed heavily on the Winchester brother dynamic and let the twins and their powers function as a backdrop. This is a crying shame as the effort to nut out the internal dynamics of the Winchesters let some very unpleasant stuff go by without engaging with it.
Andy uses his abilities right, left and centre. No one dies and everyone smiles. Andy is the Good Twin. Apparently we like him, or at least the Winchesters do, and we’re given to believe he’s not very ambitious and that his use of his ability is petty.
Anson is the Evil Twin, not only does he kill people (one ‘suicide’ with a shotgun and one ‘suicide’ with a petrol hose) but when he uses his mind control on Tracy, she cries. Making girls cry is bad, Mm’Kay? No question he’s Evil with a great big E.
What is Andy doing ethically?
He’s getting people to do whatever he wants; he’s stealing things both large and small, altering people’s perceptions and making them like it. He may or may not have been taking advantage of women sexually.
An example is the woman Andy waved goodbye to in the window. We have no evidence of him using his powers on her but we have no evidence that he didn’t. He says later in the episode says he never used his ability on Tracy, which leaves me with the nasty impression he used them on other women.
- This is rape. Even if there is no crying, screaming or bruising, even if they smile and wave goodbye the next day, if the woman didn’t get to choose, then it is still rape. If the Supernatural writers want me to buy Andy being a good guy then they should not have left this ambiguous.
- Yes, we’re all susceptible to being charmed or bullied to some extent but it doesn’t make it right for people to do it to each other.
- This is called theft; it’s theft from someone who adores his car almost as much as his brother which doesn’t make it a greater crime but does rather make you wonder why Dean still likes Andy.
It doesn’t matter what you do to people so long as they still like you after, interesting given Andy can *make* you like him.
Or rather that would be the implication if I thought the writers knew what they were implying with their treatment of Andy. I believe they were so heavily focussed on the Winchesters that they simply didn’t engage with Andy as a real character and didn’t look at what his behaviour says.
Dodgy Ethics, Heroes 1x05 and 1x06, Torchwood 1x01, Torchwood 1x07
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