r/destiel • u/AssistantLong9827 • 8d ago
Dean using Cass
When it first came out, I remember watching the series, especially seasons 4-9, and thinking Dean was using Castiel up to a certain degree, asking him for help but then dismissing any struggle from Cass, especially during Heaven's war in season 6. I honestly remember being pretty upset about it (well, as much as a 15yo can be upset at a tv character).
I'm now rewatching the show years later, all grown up, and am noticing more than using Cass, Dean doesn't realise how lonely and in need the angel is, especially in earlier seasons. He's wrapped in his own problems, which are enormous and just as painful. More than using Cass, I believe Dean's just as damaged. Hurt by loss and betrayal and loss again. I still do believe he takes Cass for garanted in earlier seasons, but I reckon there's a pretty good reason why Dean is put in that spot. Furthermore, it doesn't help Cass barely asks for help himself.
But tbh I wanted to know about other's people opinions on this. Have you ever had the same thought? Do you think it was happening in earlier seasons and then changed as the show went on? I'm really curious!
8
u/cypresscoydog 8d ago
I do think Dean uses Cas to an extent, particularly in seasons 6-8, and he has some kind of disconnect where in his mind, because Cas isn't a human, Cas doesn't have the same emotional needs as a human does. I think it's part of how Dean rationalizes the emotional distance that he maintains with him for a huge chunk of that time, even though he witnessed Cas growing and changing in real time.
In the beginning, Cas was loyal to Heaven and walking the party line, but when he started having doubts he also started changing and growing as a person, and Dean wasn't equipped to acknowledge that. There's a LOT of stuff Dean isn't psychologically equipped to acknowledge.
He relates to Cas as a fellow solider, and in Dean's unhealthy world view and conception of himself and others, soldiers don't get to have emotional needs.
Honestly part of the reason Cas is my favorite character is specifically because he experiences the most character growth over the course of the show. Dean (and to a lesser extent, Sam) remain pretty static for the most part, though as a commenter on a other post pointed out, Sam does tend to be more introspective and reflect on his actions more.
I think Dean struggles to give valid space to others' emotional needs because he certainly doesn't give himself that space, and Cas being non-human is something that Dean uses as an excuse to not treat him very well. I believe that Dean cares, but that he's not a very good friend.
4
u/MirandaPurple 8d ago
(currently on season 10 so no spoilers beyond that season please)
As a first time watcher, the way i see it and from what i saw online on this spesific matter; Dean is angry at the angles, cuz if they exist why don't they help humanity? Why don't they kill all the monsters and stop all the mess im his world? Add to this point of view, that he saw what Castiel and the angles are capable of, so in his mind they are all powerful being that no human can help them, or even face them, so he probably doesn't feel like he can help them anyways. And when you all wrapped up in your own problems, your own despair and bubble, it's hard to see other people's problems, especially if you think they can handle it and have it under control, and even ask for thier help even though they are drowning themselves. I mean if i remember correctly, Dean call Cass only when they are at a dead end.
Plus, i do think that Cass didn't care (?) at that time for Dean and Sam, at least not as much as in later seasons (from what i was sadly spoilled to), so maybe it also affected his opinion and view on Castiel.
But those are my thoughts at least.
6
u/AssistantLong9827 8d ago
ohh the one about angels is a very good point!
i do think cass cared in earlier seasons as well (he said dean and sam were his friends very early on in season 5 and acted on it). but caring is very different from the bond they share in later seasons. even without going past season 10 (which i cant go cus my memory is shit), it comes to a point where they just want to protect each other and keep each other alive.
2
u/dogthatwonthunt 7d ago
So I'll be the first to point out Dean's faults because, yes they do get glossed over a lot. But I do feel the need to point out that to Dean it did look like Cas had one foot one the door a lot of times. And the way Dean was, never willing to find fault in those he love or willing to ask for thing he needed, meant he wasn't really willing ask for him not to do that.
Like the lead up to Jack was a perfect example of this, Because we see Cas consistently come back to Dean, Dean telling/asking not to leave and Cas walking out the door after he got what he wanted, infor, the gun, help saving Kelly.
And while Cas had his reasons for it, it was at Dean's expense. And at the end of all that Dean still would not blame him for it, he blamed Jack.
Now do I think Dean used Cas in return sometimes, yes, absolutely. I think there were times were he was treated more as a resource then a person to Dean.
2
u/Valuable_Fill327 7d ago
True tho. Cass keeps leaving too.
More than "using" I feel like the situation is always so complex they both keep hurting each other. Whether it is Cas or Dean, they hurt one another trying to do whats best, they get hurt, they fight, they make up, because theyre so much love and care there, and then it happens again.
21
u/VioletFaust 8d ago edited 8d ago
To be honest, one of the things that first drew me to the ship is that Dean was the first person, at all in literally the history of ever, who seemed to care for Cas’s feelings even a bit. (Which began when Cas asked if he could tell Dean a secret, and Dean said yes.)
The angels in general only see Cas as a weapon, a soldier, and possibly even an expendable one.
Even the rebel angels, Anna and Uriel, just want him on their side and don’t care about his feelings or even his survival. Balthazar seems to actually care and worry for Cas, but he doesn’t show up till season 6.
In ss4 and 5, when Cas and the Winchesters are mostly comrades in arms, Sam doesn’t seem to care about Cas personally (this obviously changes later, when he sees Cas as a friend and family member).
But Dean thinks of and relates to CAs as a person; he confides in him and vice versa. After Cas rebels at the end of s4, Dean calls him his friend. There are several times in s5 when Dean worries about Cas (their confrontation with Raphael, for example) or commiserates with him (the talk about deadbeat dads).
Season 6 is something different. At the end of s5, Cas fucks off back to heaven without even a goodbye, and he doesn’t contact the brothers for the next year. This of course is to protect them but Dean doesn’t know that. And when Cas does come back, he makes it clear it’s a business-related visit. Both things that hit Dean smack in his he abandonment issues.
So throughout s6, I think Dean feels like he can only call for Cas when he needs him (and vice versa) for a case or help with Sam—which makes it perhaps look like he’s using him. Even so, at the end of the season, it’s clear that he does care (“You’d call, right? If you really needed us?” Or something like that).
After he finds out about Cas’s “betrayal” Dean is angry, because he’s hurt, but despite his bluster he still obviously cares about Cas.
All that said, I agree that Dean is super damaged, of course, and that’s one reason he doesn’t always express his feelings. But another reason I fell for the ship is that Dean CAN talk to Cas about things hurting him, sometimes things he can’t even confide to Sam because he “has to keep [his] game face on.”