The Curious Case of Dean Winchester
Okay, so at least I understand now why the dude playing Dean had to be in his 80s instead of his 50s. He gave 25 to Bobby right off the bat, and then he lost the other 25. When I thought he was only supposed to be in his 50s, I couldn't figure out why they didn't just hire Jensen's dad to play him.
With that said...
I still don't like old dude that played him.
First off, I think dude looks a whole lot of nothing like him. And that's without even factoring in the fact that dude has blue eyes (very, very blue eyes - like Shanks blue eyes). I will admit that they're built roughly the same, but that's where the similarity ends.
My biggest problem with him, though (and it's the same problem that I have with teen!Dean from AVSC) is that he spent the entire episode pretending to be Dean rather than "being" Dean. There were only a few moments when I felt like "Dean" was actually on the screen (excepting, of course, all of the scenes with Jensen, when Dean was most definitely there). The vast majority of the episode, though, felt like he was someone who was trying so damned hard to be Dean but just couldn't get there.
When he was going on about Hell? I could hear in my head how Dean would have said those lines - he definitely wouldn't have offered it up quite so readily, for one thing; there'd have been heavy pauses and stuff - and old dude didn't even come close. That should have been a powerful scene; in Jensen's hands, it would have been. The first time we see him really discussing Hell with Bobby, and we get it from old dude? I was seriously disappointed.
In other words, I could see him acting. I'm not supposed to be able to see that. So, yeah, he was doing it wrong.
Now, the scenes with Dean and Bobby at the beginning and at the end? Ripped my heart out. Seriously. Bobby was crying. Dean was damn near to it. Those were powerful, painful scenes.
When old dude had the heart attack? I really didn't care, even though he was supposed to be Dean. Why? Because old dude hadn't convinced me yet that he was Dean, so why would I care if some random old dude with blue eyes had a heart attack?
Loved Sam. Adored Sam. Absolutely cannot even begin to say how freakin' happy it made me to see Sam laugh again (and the Grumpy Old Men line was funny). We haven't seen Sam laugh - hell, or even really smile - in so long that I'd almost forgotten what it was like. But damn, when that boy smiles the whole screen lights up. It was wonderful to see.
And I couldn't be happier that it was Sam who saved Dean - little Sammy, all on his own, risked his own life to save Dean's and he did it! I loved that when Patrick said Dean was dying, Sam's first act was to get up and run to find him. And I loved how Patrick goading him about Dean dying made Sam so freaking frantic. And I love, love, love that Sam was in control of it the whole fucking time, that he was playing Patrick, manipulating him the way good poker players do, and throwing the whole "I can read you like a book" bullshit right back in Patrick's face.
Did I mention that I love that Sam was the hero this week? That Sammy saved Dean's life? God, I loved that.
Oh, and that gives Dean a total of three heart attacks and about a half dozen different characters referencing his weak heart. Are they gonna give him one or what?
Okay, that's all I've got for now. Other than to say that next week looks epic on the hilarity scale, and I can't wait to see it.