Previously: The boys took a little trip to prison in search of a ghost. Because that’s the bestest idea of ever.
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What Is And What Should Never Be
Kirsti: In the previouslies, we’re treated to a bunch of clips of Mary and Jessica to let us know that this episode is going to be suuuuuuper fun. When we’re done with previouslies, Dean’s in the Bromobile, which now has new plates. Because that TOTALLY makes it less obvious. Sam phones to say that there’s a cop car outside their motel. He heaves a sigh of relief when it leaves. Sam asks if Dean’s got anything, but LOL NOPE because Sam’s got him searching a massive area. Sam – books and Filofax of Shadows open to relevant entries – reveals that they’re hunting a djinn. Dean gushes about how hot Barbara Eden was, and Sam eyerolls before saying that djinns like to hole up in ruins.
Dean says he spotted somewhere nearby and he’s going to check it out. Sam insists that he swing by the motel, but Dean hangs up. Sam sighs.
The Bromobile pulls up outside an abandoned factory. Dean heads inside and starts investigating. A dark figure watches from the shadows. He doesn’t see it and keeps walking. It leaps out and slams him into a wall. It lifts a hand, which glows blue, and presses it to Dean’s head. His eyes roll up in his head.
FLAME ON!
After the Not Credits, Dean wakes in the middle of the night in an unfamiliar apartment to find himself in bed next to a sleeping naked girl. In confusion, he gets up and calls Sam. He says that he doesn’t know where he is or where the djinn went or who the girl is. Sam accuses him of drunk dialling, says he’ll see Dean tomorrow, and hangs up. Dean shoves his phone back into his pocket in frustration and goes through some mail on the table. Some of it’s addressed to him, the rest to Carmen Porter, and they live in Lawrence, Kansas. His confusion deepens. The girl, Carmen, appears and tells him to come back to bed. He says he can’t sleep and that he’ll be there soon. She leaves, and Dean examines the framed photos of him and Carmen on the bookshelf. He spots another framed photo and grabs it, then drops it in shock. It smashes on the floor.
Cut to the Bromobile pulling up outside the Winchester house. Dean rushes up the path and bangs on the door. Mary answers, and Dean’s eyes fill with tears. “Mom?” he says. She asks if he’s okay, and he says he’s not sure. She ushers him inside. He stares at her, then tests her by asking what she used to tell him when she put him to bed as a kid. “I told you angels were watching over you,” she replies. He walks over and hugs her tight. She’s confused, and he insists tearfully that he’s just happy to see her before asking if there was ever a fire at the house when he was little. She’s all “Uh, no?” and he goes to study the family photos on the bookshelf. There’s a photo of Papa Winchester in a softball uniform, and Dean laughs. Mary mentions how much he loved the team, and Dean realises Papa Winchester’s dead. But he died from a stroke, not a demon deal, so it’s totally fine.
Mary thinks he’s been drinking and wants to call Carmen. Dean begs her not to, saying he wants to stay the night. She kisses him goodnight, and he settles in on the sofa. Cut to Dean waking up the next morning.
He stares at a happy family photo in confusion. He calls Sam’s phone, but there’s no answer. Cut to a university. Dean claims to be a student and asks a professor for information about djinn, more specifically the wish granting part. The professor is all “Uhhhh, FICTIONAL CREATURES??” but says that in the stories they can alter reality however they want.
Dean heads back to out the Bromobile, and chuckles when he sees the lack of hunting paraphernalia in the boot. He glances across the road, and spots a girl wearing a Pretty White Virginal Dress staring at him. After a second, he walks into the road towards her. A car slams on its brakes, horn blaring. Dean holds up an apologetic hand to the driver, but the girl’s vanished. He looks confused, then heads back to the Bromobile.
Winchester House. Dean sits in the kitchen, happily eating a sandwich. The first sandwich his mother’s made him in twenty-three years. Oh look, I stabbed myself in the feels. Mary asks why he’s not at work, and he says he has the day off. He stares out the window at the lawn, and says it could use mowing.
Later, he sits happily on the front steps, beer in hand. A car pulls up, and Sam and Jessica get out. Dean rushes over and hugs Jessica, before being thrilled that Sam’s in law school. Sam gets judgey bitch face and motions at Dean’s beer. “I see you started off Mom’s birthday with a bang, as usual,” he snaps. Dean’s shocked to hear that it’s Mary’s birthday, and Sam judges some more.
Fancy restaurant. Dean looks insanely uncomfortable, but Carmen promises they can get burgers on the way home. Sam and Jessica announce their engagement, and Mary squeals with excitement. There’s lots of gushing and hugging, and Sam’s surprised by how intense Dean is when he says he’s thrilled Sam’s happy. Suddenly, Dean spots PWVD Girl across the room, but she’s now filthy. He walks towards her, pushing past people. When he shoves past the last person, the girl’s gone. His family stare at him. Fade to black.
After the Not Commercial Break, we’re back at the Winchester house. Jessica and Sam bid everyone goodnight, and Dean says it’s early and they should have a drink. Sam asks to speak to Dean alone, and the women-folk leave. Sam wants to know what the hell is going on with Dean, because they don’t talk outside of the holidays. “We don’t? Well, we should. I mean, you’re my brother!” Dean says. Sam scoffs, and rattles off a list of Dean’s past douchey behaviours, including stealing Sam’s ATM card and prom date. Dean apologises, and Sam says it’s fine, they just have nothing in common. Dean says they have hunting in common. Sam’s taken aback – he’s never been hunting in his life.
Dean’s apartment, later that night. He mopes to Carmen about his conversation with Sam, and she tells him they just don’t know each other that well, and Sam doesn’t know what he’s missing. Dean kisses her gratefully. Cut to him watching TV later. He flips through the channels and comes across a news article about how it’s the anniversary of the crash of United Britannia flight 424. “No. No, I stopped that crash,” he says. He does some research online, discovering more people he saved who are dead in this world. He spots a figure walking behind him and follows. He opens his closet to find several corpses hanging from their wrists and PWVD Girl, staring at him. He looks away, shocked, and when he glances back, the closet’s empty.
Cut to Dean standing by Papa Winchester’s grave. He tells his father that all the people they saved are dead and he’s being haunted. He knows Papa Winchester would tell him to go hunt the djinn, but that means going back to a world where Sam’s miserable and Mary’s dead. Tears roll down his cheeks. Fade to black.
Bromobile. Dean’s about to pull away when Sam jumps into the passenger seat. Dean tells him to get out because it’s going to be dangerous, but Sam refuses. Dean starts driving. Sam asks what’s in the paper bag between them. Dean insists that it’s nothing. Obviously, Sam opens the bag and is grossed out to find it’s a container of blood. Dean sheepishly says that he needed a silver knife dipped in lamb’s blood because he’s hunting a djinn. Sam’s all “The fuck is happening?” with a side of “Excuse me while I call the psych ward”. Dean grabs Sam’s phone and throws it out the car window. Sam insists he’s just trying to protect Dean, which Dean finds hilarious.
They pull up to the factory from the teaser, and Dean jokes “We’re not in Kansas any more,” because they’re now in Illinois. They head inside, with Sam insisting there’s nothing there and that they should go home because Carmen must be worried. There’s a noise down the hall, and Dean tells Sam to STFU and stay behind him. They head into a big open room to find the hanging corpses Dean saw in his closet earlier, empty blood bags hanging next to them. One of them is PWVD Girl, and the bag coming from her neck is full. Suddenly she starts to whimper. Dean hears a noise and drags Sam to a hiding spot. They watch as the djinn approaches PWVD Girl. She cries for her father, then begs for mercy. The djinn strokes her face, and she falls asleep. Then he pulls the blood bag from her arm and pours it into his mouth.
Sam makes a disgusted sound. The djinn hears and heads towards their hiding spot. But they’ve moved before he gets there. The djinn leaves and Sam heaves a sigh of relief. He’s shocked that this is real. Dean stares at a flickering light in the ceiling. We get a flash of Dean tied up like PWVD Girl. He gags a little, and says “What if I’m like her? What if I’m tied up in here some place? What if all this is in my head?” Fade to black.
After the Not Commercial Break, Dean realises he’s getting flashes of reality but he can’t snap out of it. Sam gets panicky, and says they need to leave in a hurry. He grabs Dean and starts dragging him towards the exit. Dean pulls loose and says that he doesn’t think Sam is real. Sam insists he is, but Dean pulls his silver knife. He mentions the old wives’ tale that if you’re about to die in a dream, you’ll wake up. He turns the knife on himself and is about to stab it into his gut when Sam yells “Stop!“. Mary, Carmen and Jessica appear, and walk towards the boys. “Why’d you have to keep digging?” Sam says sadly.
Mary softly tells Dean to put the knife down. He tearfully insists that she’s not real. “It doesn’t matter. It’s still better than anything you had,” she replies. JUST STAB ME IN THE FEELS, WHY DON’T YOU. Dean says he’ll die in a couple of days, and she tells him it’ll feel like years. He’ll get to live a full life with the people he loves. Each of them lists off reasons why he should stay.
Dean calls out, and Sam spins, attacking the djinn. But it grabs him and he drops the knife. Dean tries to pull himself free as the djinn reaches its glowy blue hand towards Sam’s forehead. Just as it’s about to touch him, Dean stabs the djinn in the back. The light goes out of its eyes and it falls to the ground, dead. Sam gasps for air as Dean walks over to PWVD Girl and presses his fingers into her neck. “She’s alive!” he cries, and Sam cuts her down. Dean catches her, saying everything will be okay. Fade to black.
After the Not Commercial Break, we’re at the Motel of the Week. Dean flips through a magazine, and realises that Carmen, his fantasy woman, is the model in a beer advert. Sam, meanwhile, is on the phone to the hospital. He tells Dean that PWVD Girl is likely going to be fine. He asks how Dean’s doing, and Dean says “You should have seen it, Sam. Our lives.” He says they didn’t get along, and Sam’s surprised because it was meant to be a perfect fantasy. Dean disagrees – it was just a wish for Mary to have lived. Sam says he’s glad Dean got out, but Dean says he wanted to stay so badly. Their job has cost them everything. Sam insists that the people they’ve saved make it worth the sacrifice. Dean looks at Sam for a second, then looks sadly at the ground. Fade to black.
This episode is basically feels central. But it seems a little out of place shoved right at the end of the season. Surely three episodes from the end we should be focusing more on the big overarching plot rather than a stand alone episode about Winchester manpain, no matter how feelsy? IDK. It’s a good episode and I really like it. It just feels a little out of place this late in the season somehow.
Next time on Supernatural: We’re at the pointy end of the season so it’s time to reveal the Big Bad’s Big Plan in So2 E21 – All Hell Breaks Loose Part 1.
I'm a 30-something librarian and I still live with my parents because I'm super broke. Leader of Team Heartless Cow. I have an inexplicable love for 90s television, eat too much chocolate, and read more than is good for me.
