I think I am too much of a completist for that, but I will bear it in mind!

WALTER! Oh, my heart. Crazy, brilliant Walter. And his pudding pops. And his cow. And his LSD.

I really need to get around to watching Fringe. I've heard so much about Walter from my friends. Usually followed by, "He kinda reminds me of your dad".

I've heard so much about Walter from my friends. Usually followed by, "He kinda reminds me of your dad".

Because it's true.

Walter is awesome.

Walter is awesomecakes, Peter is gorgeous and brooding and angsty, and Olivia kicks ass. WATCH. IT. Oh, and Broyles also rules. SO much love for him, the taciturn softie.

OMG, I'm becoming the world's biggest John apologist.

Yikes.

Hey, shouldn't he get points for raising a Dean that could raise Sam so well? Sure, Dean came out very broken, but I think events broke Sam more than parenting (or lack thereof) broken Sam.

Hey, shouldn't he get points for raising a Dean that could raise Sam so well? Sure, Dean came out very broken, but I think events broke Sam more than parenting (or lack thereof) broken Sam.

Oh, events totally broke Sam. But John helped break Dean. And I'm not sure that World's #1 Dad mugs are appropriate when you only truly fucked up half of your kids.

I get why he did what he did. I really do. But I don't think he was the best dad.

He wanted to avenge his wife, and you can (and I do) wave it as protecting the world, more than keep his kids safe.

He ... should. I mean, *I* give him points for a lot of things, but trying to look at it objectively, I don't think he was a great parent.

It does count for me that he loved them so much, though, and that he wanted things for them. It counts a lot that he saved Sam's trophy, and Dean's sawed-off.

But I also think people are more than how they're parented. Sam was never going to be the soldier Dean was, and Dean was, in my mind, wired that way -- partly because he just was, and partly because he watched his family fall apart, he experienced the one huge loss and was determined to hold onto to the rest of it however he could.

Oh, I wouldn't put him on a list anywhere near Jack Carter, or anything. But I would put him near Walter Bishop. He loved massively, was massively broken, raised remarkable offspring.

you can (and I do) wave it as protecting the world, more than keep his kids safe

I have come around to believing he had a very strong motivation in just keeping them safe from the horror only he understood, and his monomania meant he could trust no one else to do it--and that was the issue. Could he really have protected them some other way? Could he have investigated the paranormal without putting them in similar positions and exposing them to what he exposed them to?

Did Walter need to do what he did to Peter?

Could he really have protected them some other way? Could he have investigated the paranormal without putting them in similar positions and exposing them to what he exposed them to?

I believe he could have found someone to take care of them while he was on the road.

I believe he could have found someone to take care of them while he was on the road.

He could have. But I don't think he would have believed they would be safe. Truth was, at nine, Dean knew more about how to protect them than some kindly neighbor lady.

And then there's ends justifying the means, which is backwards but maybe valid. When you look at what these boys were destined for, what was at work their whole lives, how else would they have been prepared for what happened to them without John raising them that way?

Did Walter need to do what he did to Peter?

That's a sticky question. I think a lot of what Walter did was out of selfishness and grief, but I also haven't watched the final episode of S2, so.