SPN 7.11
So I guess I am required by law stubbornness to be somewhat disappointed by this episode, seeing as it failed to fulfill, well ANY of my aforementioned wishes. And what with the way they skimmed over the first three weeks after Bobby's death, I couldn't help but have flashbacks to 7.03, and how they ALSO skipped over 4 weeks there. And in retrospect, I think the time immediately proceeding Bobby's death is much more legitimately worthy of some screen time than Dean loping around Rufus's cabin on a broken leg was. I'm sorry, but Sam and Dean staring blankly at the TV and each other for 30 seconds can't be the most poignant thing that happened during the entire first week after Bobby's death. Really, now.
Despite all these disappointments, I did, on an objective level, think it was a decent episode, with some excellent moments and interesting things going on. Obviously, the mystery beer, and the temporal weirdness, which I'm guessing has something to do with either A)Dean finally going completely nuts, B)CAS!!!!! I really love the Cas idea, because I can totally see incorporeal/invisi!Cas watching over Sam and Dean while they grieved at the cabin, and deciding to create some kind of weird time-bubble around it so that the boys could have extra time to recover from like, THE WORLD. So that while only four days passed outside the bubble, four weeks passed inside of it. And maybe that moment when Dean's beer disappeared was the moment that Cas "popped" the bubble, and it created a glitchy little jump in time or something. And then maybe Cas was with Dean at Frank's and he slipped Dean an angelic mickey, because how is it even humanly possible to SLEEP SITTING UP IN A OFFICE DEPOT CHIAR FOR 36 HOURS???? HMMMM??????
I won't go into the rest of the episode, since emotionally, I'm still feeling kinda MEH about it, but the last shot may very well make up for all of it. Dear Mr Fantasy was a mix tape staple of mine in high school. I was so stoked to hear it! And that it accompanied such a heartbreaking moment. Watching Dean struggle to put that mask back on and failing so hard.... my darling boy... That song was just a perfect choice, really reinforcing the idea that Dean feels he needs to do this for everyone else around him. That he needs to put on a brave face, not only to survive, but to make others feel okay. Do anything to take us out of this gloom. For Dean, that's on his shoulders. It's up to him to make Chrissy and her dad believe they'll be okay, to smile for her and knock knuckles and pretend like he isn't totally destroyed inside, because that's what THEY need. And as much as he and Sam may feel like the only thing they can do right now is just THE JOB, being that guy, the one who smiles and says "You're gonna be okay" is a big part of that job. And it's essential to Dean that he can do it. He needs to be able to do that for the people he saves, but that's pretty clearly the hardest thing in the world right now.