But see, that plays back into Gordon seeking Dean's approval. I got a little frisson in there that maybe somewhere in the back of his mind Gordon was thinking if Sam's gone, Dean's got nobody--like me. I don't know if he thought that maybe, when Dean got over being upset about Sam's death they could bond, or something. I don't know. Gordon's elevator doesn't go all the way up, I'm afraid, but then neither does the family Winchester elevator.

I do think Gordon felt he made a connection with Dean in the earlier episode, felt like he'd found a kindred spirit. Sammy was in the way of that, Gordon didn't like Sam; without Sam Dean would be a less conscience-troubled hunter, like Gordon. They could be hunting buddies. Gordon would never admit to this, consciously, but I think it colored how avidly he went after Sam. And I also believe Gordon thought if Dean lost Sam it somehow made Gordon's killing his vamped sister more "right."

Gordon killing Dean, or setting it up so that the tripwire took Dean out, wouldn't have been consistant with what I've seen as Gordon's moral code: Dean, while a potential threat to Gordon, isn't a threat or potential threat to humanity.

He's made his peace with acceptable losses (see: possessed girl), but as of Hunted (and if we see Gordon again, this may change), killing Dean's a line he's unwilling to cross.

killing Dean's a line he's unwilling to cross.

Then how does he plan to survive? Self defense is okay, I wager.

Is there netiquette about dragging bits of LJ discussions (especially with some but not all Buffista participants) over to a message board?

I am so totally confused about some shared opinion, and I'm looking for as many different explanations as possible.

If it's not a locked post, I don't see an issue.

so why not just set Dean up as the second trip wire?

Antagonists being this smart would make the show end after 3 episodes.

there netiquette about dragging bits of LJ discussions (especially with some but not all Buffista participants) over to a message board?

I don't see why not (unlocked posts, anyway). At least, link to it and ask that discussion happen here rather than there. Like metafandoming, right?

link to it and ask that discussion happen here rather than there

It wasn't locked, but I don't feel comfortable dictating the location of discussion.

Well, here's the basic premise, which I'm sure to state badly...that there are a few racially insensitive components in Gordon's story, the last ep he was in and this one. The components of this episode were his stressing human racial purity, and him being taken down by an all-white group of cops--all this being all the more notable for him being one of the few black characters on the show.

Speaking of trip wires, this completely fails to set off any of mine. In fact, I'm having a hard time even seeing why they should be tripped for other people.

I've been to Lafayette, IN briefly. . . but I have not a clue how integrated or not the town or the police force is.

You know, I'm pretty sure that group of cops wasn't all white. Whether that makes a difference to the discussion is something else.

ita, that didn't set off anything in mine either. What was going off in my mind was, "Have they said that's Gordon, or am I just assuming that because he's black; I don't remember exactly what he looked like; I wish they would go ahead and confirm that it's him so I could stop feeling racist."

this completely fails to set off any of mine. In fact, I'm having a hard time even seeing why they should be tripped for other people.

I will say, seeing a black man with guns in his hand surrounded by tense cops is -- alarming. I expected him to be shot basically on sight, not arrested peacefully. Just the staging of that scene seemed to undercut its own intent: we're supposed to go "yay, caught" because we like Sam & Dean, but the tableaux that was presented me did not result in a yay. I got caught up in that moment in the social significance of it, and sudden fear for Gordon, and forgot the narrative significance.

It also bugs me whenever people speak of the human race, because, it's confusing and anyway 'species' is my word-choice, but I'm aware that I canna dictate words for all peoples, and anyway hinterlands people-of-action would probably choose that word no matter what I told them.