Reply To: Let’s all talk about What Is and What Should Never Be (S2 E20)
Late to the party and not much to add as you two said EVERYTHING I LOVE about this episode already so eloquently!!!
It is one of my top ten ever episodes as well and I am always equally excited and sad when it’s up in my rotation of viewing the entire series.
I really found the choices of the writers here interesting to present Dean still as a pretty troubled soul with some rough patches in the past and some callous behavior (stealing money from mom, drinking too much, forgetting his mom’s birthday, never having helped around the house)!! If this was his dream life, why didn’t the Djinn make him perfect, too?
Or is that just a sign of how Dean in his dream life wants good things for all the people he loves but still thinks so little of himself that he only deserves a certain measure of happiness (Carmen) and not the whole pie? I mean it was pretty clear that even in this dream version, Dean was not the most integrated into the family from everyone else’s remarks.
And does that mean then that loosing his mom and growing up the tough way he did WITH Sam by his side (and John training them) and all the responsibility in the world dumped on him from an early age made him actually MORE empathetic and caring about others?
SO many interesting psychological moments here.
I always have the feeling in this episode that Dean is hopeful that he could fix his relationship with Sam if he’s given a chance. It clearly bothers him that they don’t get along. Until he figures out that this is not a real live and then come the two most heartbreaking moments for me in this episode: first when Dean effectively gives up on the staying there while talking to John in the graveyard and second when he says goodbye to Sam and asks him to tell his mom that he loves her. UGH! Both so sad. (AND brilliantly acted)
I will forever be grateful on behalf of Dean that he DID have the year with Lisa and Ben at least and had a taste of a home life and being a dad and having a good partner. It was lovely to see a hint of that here as well and I do also love Carmen, who seemed pretty similar to Lisa to me in her down-to-earth-practicality and her support of Dean.
Where I differ a little with you two’s view is the fact that I believe that Dean does give up his dream of a family life somewhere down the road. I do think he wants to semi-retire with less hunting at the end of season 15 and, of course, I agree that he absolutely should have had that opportunity for YEARS but I don’t think that Dean envisioned a family (partner and kid) at that time anymore. I think by the time Dean makes the decision to let Lisa and Ben go because he believes that he just can’t guarantee their safety and can’t leave the hunting life either THAT dream of having a stable life as a dad and partner dies. And he later replaces the idea of an “alternative life” with a different vision.
Anyhow – AMAZING episode and one that keeps me thinking and trying to puzzle out all of the many layers.
PNP