Meta Essays

A meta essay, or meta (short for meta-analysis) refers to an essay that explores the text of a show in more detail than an episode review or recap. Broader themes, or deeper analysis are investigated, often with supporting evidence in the form of screencaps, pictures or charts.

Some of Us Really Do Watch for the Plot is a collection of meta essays written by fans in the first two seasons and published by fans.

See other entries in the Meta category for books and academic essays.

Meta Communities

In the first two seasons of Supernatural, the Supernatural community spn_heavymeta on Livejournal followed a set regime, where members would submit essays for each episode on Dean, Sam and John. After Season Two this structure was abandoned, and the community simply provided a central place for people to link to their metas.

The forums on Television Without Pity (now closed) and supernatural.tv as well as blogs like The Winchester Family Business often contain meta discussion, as do the comments sections on many media sites.

• This is a link to a masterpost of the Monday meta digest a weekly round up of Supernatural meta
• Masterpost of meta recs by orange8hands

Meta Essays

Dean

• Dean's Arrested Development by noelq
• Dean as Combat Commander by ladyraiden
• Good Dean Hunting by astri13
• Who's in Charge here: Dean in Wendigo by dotfic
• Still a long way to go: Dean in Home by karaadora
• If you love someone set them free: Dean in Shadows by marinarusalka
• Dean in Route 666 by anteka
• If that's what it takes: Dean in Dead Man's Blood by jewelgalantine
• Dean in Croatoan by blackcat333_99
• Holding out for a hero: Dean in NightShifter by slaysvamp
• Fear of irrelevance: Dean in In My Time of Dying by ataniell93
• Freudian analysis of Dean by sarahwilder
• Dean's relationship to food by ash48
• A Detailed look into Dean and Ash. (Masterpost) by sandraugiga
• Mangelpain: a study on Dean Winchester by lizstiel
• "I'm not someone you want to aim to be: Dean in SPN season 6 by amonitrate
• The Art of Letting Go: A Take on Dean’s Mental State in 9x01 Ï think I'm going to like it here" by feandra
• It is Easier to Build Strong Children than to Repair Broken Men: Dean Winchester and Early Years Education by lookatthesefreakinghispters
• Breakdown of Dean giving Cas the mixtape in 12.19 The Future by magarittet
• Dean’s Jungian Shadow Arc in S14 - Confronting the Internal Father (2x22 to 14x20) by drsilverfish

Sam

• Sam in Season 1 by dunkle_feuer
• Is Sammy selfish or functional ? by dodger-winslow
• I had a crappy guidance counselor: Sam in Asylum by estel_willow
• The end of innocence: Sam in Home by morgan32
• Daaaad: Sam in dead Man's Blood by astri13
• Carry on my wayward son: Sam in Salvation by candygramme
• Allowance for us all: Sam in Everybody Loves a Clown by sargraf
• My turn to fall apart: Sam in Playthings by marinarusalka
• True Believer: Sam in Houses of the Holy by dodger_winslow
• The killer in me: Sam in Croatoan by missyjack
• Sam Winchester as Chewbacca by blackjedii
• Sam in Season 3 by girlwonder
• Sam in Season 4 by quarterwhore
• Why Sam is not going darkside but he may end up wearing spandex by missyjack
• Rockstars, hunters and addiction by fannishliss
• Cracking the Enigma which is Post-Hell!Sam (circa S6) by zimshan
• 'Not Normal. Safe.': Why S8!Sam Makes Sense in the Context of his History & in Relation to Dean by zimshan
• Sam and Death by magickstiel

John Winchester

• John in Season One by phantomas
• The John Winchester Parenting Handbook by ellipsisblack
• On the dangers of normal: John in the Pilot by deannie
• Choices and consequences: John in Something Wicked by sargraf
• John in Home by dotfic
• Fallen warrior: John in Everbody Loves a Clownby morgan32
• The vanishing act in reverse: John in Shadows by phantomas
• Cast a giant shadow: John in Asylum by astri13
• John's digression from champion to adversary by kinda_tempted

The Winchesters

• Vivisecting Supernatural- This Essay Is Not About Selfcest by Wren Collins
• It's all about the Sam, the Dean, the Dad, the Demon by dodger-winslow
• Hugging & brotherly love: a comparison of the way brothers relate in Supernatural, Heroes & Prison Break by silver_spotted
• Alpha, beta & omega: Pack order in the Winchesters by technosage
• You're not my brother: Insights into the boys' relationship through Skin and Asylum by angstslashhope
• The blunt instrument and the sharp: Sam and Dean in Mystery Spot by spiderine
• Sam vs. Daddy by ahania
• Redemption narratives and kissing by missyjack
• Vessels, and shared responsibility by destina
• Sam and Dean's transformative love story by Catherine Tosenberger
• Tension, Conflict, Motivation, and Plot: Why the Story is About Dean & We Do Know Sam by bowtrunckle
• Dean's capability and Sam's morality by eilonwy
• Of Alphas, Betas, and omegas: of Winchesters and Alphabet soup by technosage
• Sam and Dean and Me: codependence in Supernatural by vichan
• The tragedy of Sam and Dean by affectingly
• Sam/Dean Ship manifesto by slytherinblack
• Why I write Sam/Dean even though I've never liked incestfic setissma
• Analysis of Sam's love/devotion for Dean by laurificus
• On Incest and wincest: the right and wrong way to write Sam/Dean] by hidingincanada
• A Wincest Manifesto
• Psychotically, irrationally, erotically co-dependent…the obsessive bromance of Supernatural by pinkwood
• To Keep Each Other Human: The Restoration of Balance (and other color interactions) in SPN 5.18 by zimshan
• Playing with perception: Sam and dean in Season 8 by metamorphic rocks

Castiel

• A boy and his angel by karenmiller
• Where Do Castiel's Loyalties Lie ? by darksilvercat
• Castiel: An Angel in the trenches by Amanda Spedding
• Castiel's character meta by sistermagpie
• Jimmy: The man behind the curtain by seahorse-4215
• The evolution of Castiel's humanity by missyjack
• The darkest hour by saucery
• On the nature of the profound bond by defilerwyrm
• An attempt at a neuroscientific examination of Castiel’s human experience and why it changed him by feandra
• On Castiel, Identity and Metrical Analysis by lifeinabox66
• The Route of Flowers : Symbolism and Castiel by thevioletcaptain
• Cas, Dean, Humanity, and Angeldom by attackofthekillermexisaurusex
• the symbolism of castiel’s favored heaven by outpastthemoat
• Proportion: How your eyes trick you into thinking Cas is shorter and thinner than he actually is by mischeviousart
• Cas and his shadow by amwritingmeta
• an eternal tuesday afternoon: the symbolism of Castiel’s favored heaven by outpastthemoat

Other Characters

• Then and Now by blackcat333_99
• Hunter and hunted: Jo in Born Under a Bad Sign by missyjack
• Long arm of the law: FBI Agent Hendrickson in Night Shifter by marinarusalka
• You can't choose your family: Bobby and Ellen as mentors by mahoni
• Why Gordon is more than just a killer: Gordon in Bloodlust by phantomas
• Sam and the Trickster in Mystery Spot by makishef
• Ruby & Castiel as avatars for aspects of Sam and Dean by missyjack
• Better the devil you know: illustrated meta on Ruby through seasons 3 & 4 by missyjack
• Illustrated meta on Anna by tirra-lyrra
• Anna Milton Meta: The Lioness, the Leader, the Sacrificial Lamb by arcadianambivalence
• An Anna Milton Meta by susurrantpetrichor - A multi-part analysis of Anna's character, including feminist and theological readings.
  • Part 1: Why Would an Angel Fall?
  • Part 1.1: Bonus Content! Too Off-Topic for the Main Post! Now with more theology and possibly a small feminist rant.
  • Part 2(A): Forgiveness and Love
  • Part 2(B): It’s Time to Think for Yourself
  • Part 2(C): Agency and Ambiguity in “The Song Remains the Same.”
  • Part 2.1: Blasphemy, Doubt, Agape, the Beloved Community, Etc., Etc. (more religious-y bonus content)
  • Part 3: The Madwoman in Heaven’s Attic, the Angel in the Impala
  • Part 3.1: “She Prophesied True Things”
  • Part 4: Useless Speculation
• "Long Live the King" - How Crowley Has Changed Over the Seasons and Where His Character Can Be Expected To Go Next by by neven-ebrez
• Crowley as a Shakespearean Antagonist by bookdal
• The meaning of Lucifer's wings by fallcnintohell
• Jack Kline Novak Winchester: Son, TFW Mirror, Trinity and Key; Quaternity, Ouroboros, Caduceus, and Harbinger of The End (meta masterpost) by drsilverfish

Mytharc Meta

• Vivisecting Supernatural- The End's 2014 Vs. Season Nine's 2014 by Wren Collins
• Good and Evil in Supernatural (Supernatural panel held at Escapade 2006, a fan-run convention)
• Sam, John and the Demon by destina
• The possibilities of Sam Winchester by fuoror_scribiend
• The Winchester Guide to Demonology by hoovooloo_too
• Angels, spirits, spirits and planetary talismans by reasearchgrrl
• A Cowboy, a Hero, and a Chevy Impala: American Mythology in Supernatural by aislinamara
• Season 3 Episodes 15 & 16 - An analysis of Sam and Dean's contract by stare-at-walls
• Meta analysis on Season 3 by albydarned
• On the Head of a Pin: there's no going back by bardicvoice
• Questions on the angel hierarchy by schmevil
• Zeke 9000 - A 2014 Supernatural Odyssey: parallels between Sam/Zeke and Dave/Hall from 2001 by larinah
• Angels, Demons, Dean and Posession in Supernatural by dontturnitoff
• Demons, Devils, and Dicks: Supernatural and Post 9/11 Angst by bookdal
• 9x11 Parallels - Dean/Cain, Sam/Abel & Castiel/Colette by queernatural
• The Meta of Supernatural & The Many Meanings of “God as the Author” by by magicoolsassyphoenix
• Folklore and Supernatural (masterpost) by prairiedust

The Impala

• The Impala as a mirror for Dean's emotional state by anteka
• Back in Black by missyjack
• “A Black 1967 Chevy Impala: Fan Shibboleths as Cultural Password.” by Mark Stewart FlowTV 20.2 (2014). Web. 5 Aug. 2014.
• The Impala as negotiator of melodrama and masculinity in Supernatural by Melissa N. Bruce Transformative Works and Cultures, no. 4.
• A Tribute To The Impala a.k.a. Metallicar (2006-12-14) by raloria
• “The Automobile as Moving Castle.” by Knowles, Thomas. Ed. Melissa Edmondson. The Gothic in Supernatural: Essays on the Television Series. McFarland Press, 2016.

In "The Automobile as Moving Castle,” Thomas Knowles reads the Winchesters’ beloved 1967 Impala as a Gothic character within the series. Knowles suggests that the interior of the car, which functions as a surrogate home for Sam and Dean, mirrors the subversive and deathly interiors that make up the more traditional Gothic castle.

Read on Google Books: 25-26, 27-28, 29-30, 31-32, 33-34, 35-36.

Supernatural & Its Visuals

• Vivisecting Supernatural- Strange Grimy Glamour by Wren Collins
• Kripke and His Camera: Pastels, Flowers, and Symbolism in WIAWSNB by bowtrunckle
• Blue Velvety Smoothness: Visual references in WIAWSNB
• Red Demons and Yellow Psychics: Color Association and their Role in Supernatural's Visual Language Part 1 by bowtrunckle
• Red Demons and Yellow Psychics: Color Association and their Role in Supernatural's Visual Language Part 2 (This part focuses on Sam and his connection to demons) by bowtrunckle
• The Supernatural Color Wheel by hearseeno
• There's a Reason To Hope: The Cinematographic Use of Lighting & Shot Composition in SPN 5.04 by zimshan
• The Balance of Red & Blue: Color Symbolism in context of Fate & Free Will in Season 5 by zimshan
• Picspam tribute to Kim's directorial work on Supernatural by bellanut
• "...a storyteller who spoke with his camera..." Part One and Part Two. A picspam looking at Kim Manner's direction of Season One and Two episodes by coltshot1
• The Angel in the House: On the Presence of a Higher Power by sadelyrate
• Supernatural Title Cards and the 5 elements by blacklid
• Supernatural Title Cards and their meanings by meiou-set
• Visual Tropes and Call-Backs in Early Season 5 Episodes by hearseeno
• Statues in Supernatural by tirra-lyrra
• The Writing On The Wall: a study of the graffiti in The End by andreth47
• A Visual review of Two and a half Men by Ardeospina
• Visual review of Like a Virgin by Ardeospina
• Supernatural Noir: season six in review by Jules Wilkinson
• Comparison of Jensen's choice of shots in The Girl Next Door with Hitchcock's Stranger on a Train by bowtruckle
• Tracking the Visual Story: The Saga of Red & Blue Continues... by zimshan
• Comparative Directorial Styles: Edlund, Rohl, Singer, Scgricca, and Manners by bowtruckle
• Season 8: Dissecting Visual Drama by bowtruckle
• Symbolism of the Star Brite Drive-in in 10.03 Soul Survivor by larinah
• Visual Motifs - Flowers: Mystery, secrets, and things yet to be revealed by hearseeno
• “Why Do You Dress Me In Borrow’d Robes?” The Role of Costumes and Mirrors In 8x11/8x20 And What It Might Mean For the Character Development of Dean Winchester by sikai

Gender and Sexuality

• Manly man in TVLand: Gender in Supernatural by astri13
• Less Campy: comparisons of gender depictions in Buffy and Supernatural by monkeycrackmary
• A feminist take on Supernatural by fanishliss
• Masculinity in Supernatural by lefefuge
• Macho vs masculinity by sasha-davidovna
• Some Considerations (in defense) of Supernatural's Malleus Maleficarum from a Feminist by crossroads_lore
• Something about Mary by spg
• Hell hath no fury like a woman born by deadbeat_nymph
• Daddy, would you like some sausage ?: Oedipal narrative in Supernatural by angstslashhope
• Latchkey Hero: Masculinity, Class and the Gothic in Eric Kripke's Supernatural by Julia M. Wright
• The Story of My (non) Existence: Bisexuals and Genre Television by chasingtides
• The Women of Supernatural by Mike Elrod'
• "Well, you are kind of butch": the bisexuality of Dean Winchester by waterofthemoon
• Commentary on the "Women's Work" Fanvid by fan-eunice
• Women's Art and "Women's Work" (Essay on the gendered nature of vidding and, in particular, examining "Women's Work", a fanvid by Luminosity and Sisabet & how it examines the portrayal of women in Supernatural)
• Supernatural recap on Facebook by Michael Jensen on After Elton
• Looking at Dean Winchester: The Gaze In Supernatural by missyjack
• Demisexual and queer Sam by kimchesters
• Gender bias in Supernatural: the cold hard stats by ash48 and bythedamned
• Male Sexual assault in Supernatural by hells-half-acre
• Torture and rape in Season 6 by amonitrate
• Possession and sex in Supernatural by chasingtides
• Swapping Spit and Satin Panties: Sexual Objectification of the Male Characters in Supernatural by blubird-pie
• Supernatural’s Dean Winchester Dismantled His Own Machismo—and That’s Why We Love Him at tor.com by Emily Asher-Perrin
• Pink and Satiny: An Exploration of Dean Winchester’s Bisexuality by sobrans
• Dean Winchester as a greyromantic by swagstiel
• Masculinity and the killing of Destiel by supernatural-meta
• Supernatural Bechdel test by centrumlumina
• Breaking Down the Schtick: Jensen Ackles, Physical Comedy, Objectification, Consent, and Other Supernatural Topics Inspired By Three Seconds of Footage by Sheila O'Malley
• Fan art meta on cake/pie and Dean's sexuality by consulting-cannibal
• An example of fannish cake/pie meta by oh-so-pleasant
• Do I look like Paris Hilton? Dean as SPN's Cinematic Female Other by Frozen-delight
• Media interpretation of the hunter husbands in The Chitters by messier51
• The Chitters and compulsory heterosexuality by deathbycoldopen
• Jensen's response to a question at a convention by Aja Romano
• Rachel Miner and Nicki Aycox discuss ‘Supernatural’ as a positive environment for women with Hypable.
• An Angel, and Lucifer’s Kid? Queer-Coding and Dean’s “Found Family” in 14x13 Lebanon by drdilverfish
• The appeal of Supernatural to a queer audience by postmodernmulticoloredcloak

Shipping

• Has Slash made the world better for gay men? on After Elton
• 15 Supernatural couples we wish had gotten together by thethings
• Let’s talk about slash shipping by Hypable

Wincest

• Tosenberger, Catherine: "The Epic Love Story of Sam and Dean".Supernatural, queer readings, and the romance of incestuous fan fiction, in "Journal of Transformative Works and Cultures", Volume I, 2008
• “Catherine Tosenberger on Sam and Dean’s transformative love story” by Suzette Chan
• “Writing with the Winchesters: Metatextual Wincest and the provisional practice of happy endings” by Kt Torrrey
• “What is Wincest and How Do I Ship It: A Comprehensive Guide” by brothersintheimpala
• “Sam/Dean Manifesto” by stickingupforsammy aka theongreyjoy, but copied to spnmonster’s account due to deletion of original account
• “Sam & Dean: Soulmates” by spnmonster
• “Erotically Co-Dependant: A Dean/Sam Manifesto” by slytherinblack and kissedbythegods
• “Why Wincest is canon” by rabidbehemoth
• “Psychotically, irrationally, erotically co-dependent…the obsessive bromance of Supernatural” by pinkwood
• Incest in my canon by chasingtides
• “Wincest: transgressive taboo or conservative construct?” by missyjack
• “Analysis of Sam’s love/devotion for Dean” by laurificus
• “Wincest and Romanticism” by fannishliss
• HOYAY! "Supernatural": Coded gays, slashfic bait and Wincest, oh my! on After Elton
• Incest shipping in fandom by kokatu

Destiel

• “Dean/Castiel Manifesto” by vichan
• Was Cas hand picked to appeal to dean by lurea
• Why I Ship Dean/Castiel–After Swearing to God I Wouldn’t by alexanrapelaez
• Dean and Cas Purgatory reunion by lurea
• 15 'Supernatural' Castiel-Dean Ship Posts That We Just Can't Get Over by thethings
• WB exec comments on Destiel by The Daily Dot
• Osric comments on 9.03 "I'm No Angel
• What does Sam think about Destiel? by lurea
• Dean and Castiel's relationship by aretheygay
• Queerness, Tropes & Proof Of Love: Why Destiel Is Canon by fozmeadows

Queerbaiting

• Definition and history of Queer Baiting on Fanlore
• Supernatural Has a Queer Baiting Problem and it Needs to Stop on TV Guide
• MTV website Geek News re-posts a survey done by x-cetera on Tumblr about whether fans think Destiel will become canon.
• Dean and Castiel's Reunion and Queer-baiting on Spoiler TV.
• Supernatural fans take Show to task for queer baiting on The Advocate
• Interview: Fangasm: Supernatural Fangirls, Katherine Larsen and Lynn Zubernis on Sequential Tart
• Supernatural Needs to Admit Dean is Bisexual on Policy Mic
• Queerbaited: Homoeroticism & Homophobia in Supernatural in the Age of the Internet by Anna Campbell
• ‘Supernatural’: The Slowest Burn Or Biggest Queerbaiting? Time To Decide by Emma Dailey Mitchell

Class

• Supernatural and economic instability by amonitrate
• Supernatural and the Underclass series: Intro, Dangers of the underclass, Music, War, Clothes, Cars Part One, Cars Part Two by laespada
• "All I saw was evil": Supernatural's Reactionary Road Trip by Brian Ireland
• Supernatural and the Underclass series by vee-fic

Religion

• Vivisecting Supernatural- Maybe I Could Be Saved by Wren Collins
• Supernatural: Paving the Way for The New World/Testament by cugami
• Judaism in Supernatural by hagar-972
• Pagan Symbolism in Supernatural - the pentagram by persephoneshadow
• The nature of Death of Supernatural by hell-half-acre
• Trivialization of Hindu gods in Supernatural episode by schmevil

Ethnicity and Race

• Regional accents in Supernatural by ethrosdemon
• Race in Supernatural by The Angry Black Woman blogsite
• Winchester Accents: None of Them Sound Like They’re from Kansas by basiacat
• Supernatural: Kinda Racist by Alejandro Zuleta
• Is supernatural racist? by Lady Geek Girl
• An Open Letter to Eric Kripke by Alaya Dawn Johnson
• "Supernatural" Is Midwestern Gothic For The Google Generation by Annalee Newitz
• Dear Writers Of Supernatural by Nerdy POC
• If Sam and Dean were PoC by glockgal

Music

• Music (Original Score) (meta on themes and motifs in the music score by zimshan)
• Top fifteen music moments on Supernatural by quidditchkiss
• Chasing Rabbits: On the use of "White Rabbit" in the teaser to Hunted by gigglingkat
• Other music metas by gigglingkat
• Baby I’m Gonna Leave You: Dean and Led Zeppelin by feandra

Miscellaneous

• Somebody save me: the point of view of people in peril on the boys by astri13
• Free will & determinism in the Supernatural universe by technosage
• The long arm of the law by silver_spotted
• “Why do I hafta be some kind of hero ?": A Hero’s Journey Analysis of Supernatural by kentawolf
• Politics in Supernatural by Lyric Ron
• How the writers' strike affected Season 3 by percysowner
• The Viewers Guide to the Pilot by bowtrunckle & hugemind (with emphasis on cinematography)
• Repeated language by weesta
• Brains trumps legs: Disability in Supernatural by chasingtides
• Vampires as a metaphor for denial in Supernatural by redrikki
• Comparisons between Supernatural and Constantine by blackbetrayal
• Chakras in Supernatural by meret
• Bitten and Baudrillard - hyperealism and Supernatural by astarloa
• Season Nine themes as told through its episode titles (spoilers) by neven-ebrez
• Symbolism of the Numebr 17 in Supernatural by abbaddon
• Establishment Culture, or Why Supernatural is Just as ‘Good’ a Show as Mad Men by fangirlingthebook
• SPN The Video: the narrative of Supernatural written as a Role Playing Video Game by @RebornRuffian12

Fandom & Fan Works

• Move over alpha geeks, here come the fangrrls Portrayal of the many facets of fandom, particularly Supernatural
• Navigating The Supernatural Online Fandom: A Great Hiatus Time Killer by Alice Jester
• Infernal redemption: an analysis of the "The Fifth Circle" video by Luminosity by Babak Zarin
• Still Alive Fanvid meta on the Supernatural fandom by counteragent
• A box of mirrors, a unicorn, and a pony by missyjack
• What we write - an analysis of genres and pairings, and changing trends in Supernatural Fanfic from 2005-2009 by missyjack
• Misha’s Minons: A Case Study in Online Community formation and hierarchy
• The pros of cons by Emma Ryan
• The nonnies made them do it! - A history of the Alpha/Beta/Omega trope in Supernatural fanfic by netweight
• Copyright law, the public domain & fanfiction-inspired thoughts on Supernatural's Slumber Party ep by heidi8
• This Content is Currently Unavailable: The Tyranny of Digital Distance, Updated by Mark Stewart
• I Used To Think Maybe You Loved Me (Now Baby I’m Sure): The Reconstruction of the Supernatural Fangirl by KT Torrey - @catchclaw and Shannon Cole - @cym2k
• Shipping as a meditation on love
• A linguist explains the grammar of ship names
• Supernatural Fandom and Disability Awareness by David Perry
• A great look at the free speech debate in fandom and particularly around fanfic and AO3 by Elizabeth Minkel