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More SPN meta
Mar. 17th, 2009 02:59 pmMy friend Emily asked me:
I guess I didn't think about this when we were introduced to Tessa originally in the second season premiere, but isn't her version of a reaper completely different than the reaper from "Don't Fear the Reaper"? I have to admit that I'm a bad fan and don't always pay attention to the subtle details of the show, but I know you do! Did they address either in her first episode or this one [Death Takes a Holiday] why she is so pretty and brings death so peacefully but the creepy old guy chases people down and scares them to death? Are there different kinds of reapers?
Which got me to thinking about why the Reaper in DFTR is presented so differently.
This is the answer I came up with:
Re: your question, when we first see Tessa in IMTOD, she looks like a scary Wraith thingy, like a ghostly skeleton (which she later tells Dean is her true form). And then she makes herself look like a beautiful girl. Dean reads in John's journal that Reapers can alter human perception, make themselves appear to humans however they'd like. So I don't think the Reaper in DFTR and Tessa are different kinds of Reapers so much as that they choose to wear different forms. The Reaper in DFTR is being forced to act by the skeevy faith healer's wife; he's essentially a prisoner and he's being forced to go against his nature and kill people whose times have not yet come. So maybe he looks and acts scary because he's pissed off.
Oh, oh, or maybe that Reaper looks and acts scary because he can only appear the way that woman *thinks* he should appear--like the form he wears is tainted by her perception of what a Reaper is/should be and by the darkness of what she is doing.
I guess I didn't think about this when we were introduced to Tessa originally in the second season premiere, but isn't her version of a reaper completely different than the reaper from "Don't Fear the Reaper"? I have to admit that I'm a bad fan and don't always pay attention to the subtle details of the show, but I know you do! Did they address either in her first episode or this one [Death Takes a Holiday] why she is so pretty and brings death so peacefully but the creepy old guy chases people down and scares them to death? Are there different kinds of reapers?
Which got me to thinking about why the Reaper in DFTR is presented so differently.
This is the answer I came up with:
Re: your question, when we first see Tessa in IMTOD, she looks like a scary Wraith thingy, like a ghostly skeleton (which she later tells Dean is her true form). And then she makes herself look like a beautiful girl. Dean reads in John's journal that Reapers can alter human perception, make themselves appear to humans however they'd like. So I don't think the Reaper in DFTR and Tessa are different kinds of Reapers so much as that they choose to wear different forms. The Reaper in DFTR is being forced to act by the skeevy faith healer's wife; he's essentially a prisoner and he's being forced to go against his nature and kill people whose times have not yet come. So maybe he looks and acts scary because he's pissed off.
Oh, oh, or maybe that Reaper looks and acts scary because he can only appear the way that woman *thinks* he should appear--like the form he wears is tainted by her perception of what a Reaper is/should be and by the darkness of what she is doing.
