S12.E11: Regarding Dean

[rue721]

10 minutes ago, Mick Lady said:

I've hustled a ton of people with pool! I've worked at stables all through my younger days, and they all had pool tables for the grooms in the break room, and I've spent may a rainy day playing pool, and became very good at it. For the boy's (and me!) that's not cheating, you just blow the first few games, than run the table. It's done all the time. I think Dean would love Rowena and her poker playing! I also think they'd make an awesome couple!

I too want the "Mega Coven!" Rowena has become one of my favorites on this show.

Dude that is NOT NICE :P

I got hustled playing pool on Saturday and man, it sucked. I'm an awful pool player, so I don't really care about losing. But it was this one girl's date and his friends who hustled us, which I thought was unnecessarily mean of them. What really rubbed me the wrong way was that the date played horribly as long as he was on the girl's team, but as soon as we started playing "guys against girls" and he was on his boys' team, his playing became phenomenal. I mean, he was doing trick shots ffs. He jumped the cue ball over our ball in order to get his ball into a corner pocket! He hit two balls at once, and they went into opposite pockets! It was crazy. I told him that it was not cool that he only played well when he was playing against his girl. And that he was a liar who apparently can't be trusted. I dunno, the girl herself is kind of screwy so I'm not even going to say they're a terrible match or whatever, but I wouldn't be dating his lying ass, I can tell you.

[Mick Lady]

2 minutes ago, rue721 said:

Dude that is NOT NICE :P

I got hustled playing pool on Saturday and man, it sucked. I'm an awful pool player, so I don't really care about losing. But it was this one girl's date and his friends who hustled us, which I thought was unnecessarily mean of them. What really rubbed me the wrong way was that the date played horribly as long as he was on the girl's team, but as soon as we started playing "guys against girls" and he was on his boys' team, his playing became phenomenal. I mean, he was doing trick shots ffs. He jumped the cue ball over our ball in order to get his ball into a corner pocket! He hit two balls at once, and they went into opposite pockets! It was crazy. I told him that it was not cool that he only played well when he was playing against his girl. And that he was a liar who apparently can't be trusted. I dunno, the girl herself is kind of screwy so I'm not even going to say they're a terrible match or whatever, but I wouldn't be dating his lying ass, I can tell you.

Ah Rue! I rarely played for money, and if I did, it was for 5 bucks or so. I understand why you're pissed, but please, don't think less of me! I respect you a lot, and would hate to think I lost yours!

[RulerofallIsurvey]

5 minutes ago, rue721 said:

I told him that it was not cool that he only played well when he was playing against his girl.

Seriously.  Why would he not play well when he was on the same team as his girl?  That makes no sense to me.  He didn't want her to win?  Or want to show her up?  But then he showed her up when playing against her, so that makes no sense.  If I were her, I'd be ticked that he played so badly when he was supposed to be 'helping' me!

[rue721]

Just now, Mick Lady said:

Ah Rue! I rarely played for money, and if I did, it was for 5 bucks or so. I understand why you're pissed, but please, don't think less of me! I respect you a lot, and would hate to think I lost yours!

Oh, no worries! You're fine! I actually love it when people bust out their skills. I just thought that these guys (and especially the one guy) were being jerks.

1 minute ago, RulerofallIsurvey said:

Seriously.  Why would he not play well when he was on the same team as his girl?  That makes no sense to me.  He didn't want her to win?  Or want to show her up?  But then he showed her up when playing against her, so that makes no sense.  If I were her, I'd be ticked that he played so badly when he was supposed to be 'helping' me!

Right?!

I was like, AT BEST, Matt, you have no game. And I'm not talking about pool ;)

[Bishop]

On 2/12/2017 at 3:11 PM, DeeDee79 said:

Jensen always pulls off the comedic moments but I would have liked to see a little less of that and more emotion between Sam and Dean overall. 

Agreed.  I deleted it from my dvr, but Jensen did a great job.  I just feel it could have been a fantastic episode because it was something that one of the brothers hasn't had to deal with at all - which is saying a lot.  I did like Sam's line that watching his brother lose himself was worse than watching him die, andd I would have liked more of those moments - brother moments.  I don't dislike Rowena, but they've done the witches, hexes, find a potion or a spell and fix it stuff to death already.  This was an opportunity to delve into the brother relationship in a different way.  Heck, they should have had Mary in this episode more than Rowena - to have her watch losing her son where he has no memory of her.  Maybe that will snap her out of her funk.  Oh well.

Edited February 15, 2017 by Bishop

[Wynne88]

I just rewatched this.  Yellow post-it notes are everywhere once you start looking for them!

[catrox14]

I was re-watching this and towards the end when Dean is in his car and he follows the notes but says nothing, I had this terrible thought that Dean had lost the ability to speak.  Did anyone else think that?

[catrox14]

I found just the end montage and fucking hell. This makes me cry. I just can't help but think this is a harbinger of doom for Dean on some level. 

The part that really punches me right in the feels, is the crescendo where Dean is genuinely happy to learn his best friend is an angel and he finds tiny vodkas in the fridge and then lyric slaps you right in the face.

Quote

For, all too soon you'll awaken;

Your toys will all be gone.
Your broomstick horse will ride away,
To find another home.

 

 

Fuck me. It's almost too much for me.

[catrox14]

...But Dean's Bunny makes me happy. LOL

LOL Twitter never fails.

Dean's bunny has a Twitter account now.

Edited February 20, 2017 by catrox14

[shang yiet]

The final scene reminded me of that one in that dijn episode. Both times. Dean had the chance to forget about his problems and retreat either into a fantasy world or blissful oblivion. Sam this time seemed a bit regretful he didn't have the luxury. He had to bear the burden of remembering in both episodes.  It's quite sad especially when you want to forget.

Edited February 21, 2017 by shang yiet

[Myrelle]

On ‎2‎/‎20‎/‎2017 at 0:10 AM, catrox14 said:

...But Dean's Bunny makes me happy. LOL

LOL Twitter never fails.

Dean's bunny has a Twitter account now.

ROTLMAO. I hate twitter, but this is Too. Good.... *loves*...

[RulerofallIsurvey]

I noticed that "Finding Dory" was new on Netflix, so I had to watch it last night.  Thanks, Dean! :)

[DittyDotDot]

I'm rewatching this and I got caught up wondering who that doll Rowena gave to Dean was for. It would've been funny if while Dean was innocently playing with it, some random dude was getting pricked in the face. 

Okay, funny might not be the right word, but... . ;)

Edited March 4, 2017 by DittyDotDot

[Myrelle]

Crowley. ;-)

[DittyDotDot]

Oh, and here's an existential question: If they witches were going to swap Sam's soul for their brother's, who would the Frankenstein be?

I mean, Sam ran around for a year without his soul and even though he wasn't actually Sam, he was Sam. But, the soul is supposed to be your conscience, would Sam's value of what's right and wrong be guiding the witch? 

[Katy M]

4 minutes ago, DittyDotDot said:

Oh, and here's an existential question: If they witches were going to swap Sam's soul for their brother's, who would the Frankenstein be?

I mean, Sam ran around for a year without his soul and even though he wasn't actually Sam, he was Sam. But, the soul is supposed to be your conscience, would Sam's value of what's right and wrong be guiding the witch? 

I think in this case, it would just be the witch inside Sam's body.  In Soulless Sam's case (and man do I hate the concept of soullessness on this show), he still had his own personality. But, with the witch swap, the witch's personality and soul would come into the body.  I think it would be like in Swap Meat. Sam was fully in Gary's body and Gary was full in sam's without anything of Sam besides his physical presence.

[DittyDotDot]

Oh, I didn't get the impression they were swapping bodies just putting Sam's soul in the dead witch to bring him back to life. The witches wanted their brother back, but were they really getting their brother back or just reanimating his body with a different person in it? 

Basically, I'm wondering if the soul holds who we are or if it's just a power source with a dollop of conscience on top? 

[catrox14]

23 minutes ago, DittyDotDot said:

Oh, I didn't get the impression they were swapping bodies just putting Sam's soul in the dead witch to bring him back to life. The witches wanted their brother back, but were they really getting their brother back or just reanimating his body with a different person in it? 

Basically, I'm wondering if the soul holds who we are or if it's just a power source with a dollop of conscience on top? 

54 minutes ago, DittyDotDot said:

I'm rewatching this and I got caught up wondering who that doll Rowena gave to Dean was for. It would've been funny if while Dean was innocently playing with it, some random dude was getting pric

 Given soulless Sam I don't think souls determine personality. I think they determine morality. So to me swapping the souls would just be like possession.sam would be the meatsuit for the witches soul and it would make Sam do certain things and make choices but not alter his personality. I think.

[Katy M]

33 minutes ago, DittyDotDot said:

Oh, I didn't get the impression they were swapping bodies just putting Sam's soul in the dead witch to bring him back to life. The witches wanted their brother back, but were they really getting their brother back or just reanimating his body with a different person in it? 

Basically, I'm wondering if the soul holds who we are or if it's just a power source with a dollop of conscience on top? 

I guess I forgot the details.  I thought they were putting the witch into Sam's body. 

[DittyDotDot]

Never mind, I think I figured out my own question. Only took me a few minutes. I think the idea was to swap Sam's soul for the witch's soul that was either in Hell or wherever--because he was dead and had been for at least a day--so the witch would have his own soul back and Sam's soul would be in Hell or whatever.

At first I thought they were trying to put Sam's soul in the witch to reanimate him. Which made me think they were pretty stupid witches for choosing a hunter's soul to put in their brother. I mean, what if Sam's soul compelled the zombie witch to kill his siblings? And, then I started giggling and it all went downhill from there...Sorry, I really do seem to be all over the place today.

Last thought on the episode: I adore the way Dean snaps his fingers. That's all. I'm done...no really... . ;)

[catrox14]

It was souls swapping

Boyd:: You mean, swapping your soul for his?

[AwesomO4000]

12 hours ago, DittyDotDot said:

Basically, I'm wondering if the soul holds who we are or if it's just a power source with a dollop of conscience on top? 

11 hours ago, catrox14 said:

Given soulless Sam I don't think souls determine personality. I think they determine morality.

I moved my response over to the "What?!?" thread, since I figured it fit better over there.

Edited March 5, 2017 by AwesomO4000
mayday mayday - topic course correction needed.

[RulerofallIsurvey]

I rewatched this last week, but was out of town this past weekend, so just getting around to posting a few extra observances:(warning!  Some might be a little snarky - (what? Who? Me? Nah....))

• That was one Damn Smart Bunny.  'Nuff said.
• "Now Salsa You Mittens"  :D
• Yeah, I can't believe that no one else called the episode on this (that I recall): we didn't get ONE SINGLE SCENE of checking if Dean was hairless from the neck down? What's up with that?!  I volunteer as Tribute!
• Sam found that one lone bullet casing in a dirty alley/behind a bar awfully fast.  'Cause that happens all the time, amiright?
• Sam giving Dean "the talk" was interesting.  
• Dean when he comes down the stairs at the end with Roweena: "Who's this hippie?"  Lol.  Nice call back to the S7 Wedding episode when he called Sam a hippie. But also Sam's face.  Boy, he had Sam going.

ETA: nothing.  Deleted comments belonging in another thread.  Oops!

Edited March 7, 2017 by RulerofallIsurvey
Not even taking cold medicine (but I should be!) and made that goof.

[SueB]

On 3/6/2017 at 7:57 PM, RulerofallIsurvey said:

I rewatched this last week, but was out of town this past weekend, so just getting around to posting a few extra observances:(warning!  Some might be a little snarky - (what? Who? Me? Nah....))

• That was one Damn Smart Bunny.  'Nuff said.
• "Now Salsa You Mittens"  :D
• Yeah, I can't believe that no one else called the episode on this (that I recall): we didn't get ONE SINGLE SCENE of checking if Dean was hairless from the neck down? What's up with that?!  I volunteer as Tribute!
• Sam found that one lone bullet casing in a dirty alley/behind a bar awfully fast.  'Cause that happens all the time, amiright?
• Sam giving Dean "the talk" was interesting.  
• Dean when he comes down the stairs at the end with Roweena: "Who's this hippie?"  Lol.  Nice call back to the S7 Wedding episode when he called Sam a hippie. But also Sam's face.  Boy, he had Sam going.

ETA: nothing.  Deleted comments belonging in another thread.  Oops!

I think Sam couldn't bring himself to mention it and by the time Rowena got there, they knew who the badguys were.

*sigh* missed opportunity.

[RulerofallIsurvey]

15 minutes ago, SueB said:

*sigh* missed opportunity.

That's what I'm talking about!

[catrox14]

This is really cute fanart that Ruthie Connell put on her Tumblr page.

 

Quote

 

 

Getting tonged @alainahuffman it’s a British thing #Repost @maksimkotov8011
・・・
@ruthie_connell @jensenackles #RuthConnell #JensenAckles #Rowena #DeanWinchester #Supernatural #SPNFamily #12season #RegardingDean #12x11 #Art one of my favorite episodes… ❤️

#supernatural#regardingdean#deanwinchester#jensenackles#spnfamily#rowena#12x11#ruthconnell#repost#12season#art

Edited June 22, 2017 by catrox14

[catrox14]

From Lord Mesa.  This just...hurt. Love this.

 

[millennium]

4 minutes ago, catrox14 said:

From Lord Mesa.  This just...hurt. Love this.

 

I just finished watching this episode for the first time (on Netflix) about two minutes ago.   I found it interesting that as Dean peered into the mirror and lost his memory he also lost his Batman voice.  

A good episode.   The Loughlins were kind of throwaway villains, but the story really wasn't about them.

While Jensen receives deserved Ackle-ades for this performance, I'd like to express my admiration for everything Jared Padalecki and Ruth Connell brought to this episode.   Sam's my favorite part of Sam and Dean.  I respect Jared's ability to be a graceful second banana to Jensen.   Never a hint of trying to upstage his co-star, he just brings his best every week.  

And Rowena.  I love Rowena.   Always have.   And I love her so much more when she's featured apart from Crowley (Crowley diminishes the character, IMHO).   I had to smile when she was pinned against the wall with a flying mirror shard embedded an inch from her skull yet not a false eyelash out of place.

I checked out of this season a few months ago because I became irritated with the Rick Springfield Lucifer storyline, but came back when it showed up on Netflix.   I'm glad I caught this episode and the one before it.   I just wish the writers could find a consistent level of quality/tone and stick with it.   The Lucifer storyline is done to death.  Drop it already.  Drop Crowley.  Drop Castiel.   Get back to basics.

[bettername2come]

You know what this show needs more of? Dean holding bunnies. "The Rat Pack partied till the day they died." Yes, Dean, but you're already down a Frank. You and Sammy can't be the Rat Pack by yourselves. "I'm not gonna apologize for loving that fish. Not to you, not to anybody." Jensen does great work here. He and Ruth Connell play well off each other, which is a nice change of pace since she usually gets more interaction with Sam. 

"Brother. Witch." Amuses me more than it should.

This is a great episode for Rowena. Helps the Winchesters and gets owed a favor, gets compliments on her hair, gets revenge on people who she thinks have wronged her. 

[Bobcatkitten]

Trying to finish up before the new season. Sam definitely did all the post its. He knew Dean wouldn't "Stay" and anticipated the gun and bullets.

 

The ending I expected was just Dean saying something like, we gotta have some fun in this job too. Let's go ride the bull and then have a montage of both of them riding it. Would have worked a lot better. 

[Katy M]

7 minutes ago, scribe95 said:

Trying to finish up before the new season. Sam definitely did all the post its. He knew Dean wouldn't "Stay" and anticipated the gun and bullets.

But, one of the post-its said "your brother has been kidnapped by witches."  Unless Sam was anticipating that, he couldn't have written that.  And the stay went in tandem with that.  I think Rowena wrote them.

[gonzosgirrl]

1 hour ago, scribe95 said:

Trying to finish up before the new season. Sam definitely did all the post its. He knew Dean wouldn't "Stay" and anticipated the gun and bullets.

 

The ending I expected was just Dean saying something like, we gotta have some fun in this job too. Let's go ride the bull and then have a montage of both of them riding it. Would have worked a lot better. 

As @Katy M pointed out, logic says it couldn't have been Sam who wrote the Post-Its in the car. As for the second part of your post - couldn't disagree more. It was pretty much the only Dean-centric episode of the season and it was fitting that they showed him riding the bull. Not to mention how out of character it would've been for Sam. That said, while I loved the visual of Jensen riding the bull, it felt too much like an 'in memoriam' for the character - and given Dabb's treatment of Dean, it's not far from the truth.

[catrox14]

2 hours ago, scribe95 said:

The ending I expected was just Dean saying something like, we gotta have some fun in this job too. Let's go ride the bull and then have a montage of both of them riding it. Would have worked a lot better. 

Why would Sam have been shown riding the bull? That whole thing was from Dean's night out and Sam wasn't around for that.They didn't go back to the bar either.

[FlickChick]

3 hours ago, scribe95 said:

The ending I expected was just Dean saying something like, we gotta have some fun in this job too. Let's go ride the bull and then have a montage of both of them riding it. Would have worked a lot better. 

Don't worry, with these writers I'm sure you'll get to see Sam riding a bull in a future episode.

[Bobcatkitten]

I meant, at the end of the case Dean would say, let's go ride the bull to let off some steam and then the brothers go do it together. That would have been my preference to the montage of Dean not really knowing who he was.

Edited October 4, 2017 by scribe95

[gonzosgirrl]

13 hours ago, scribe95 said:

I meant, at the end of the case Dean would say, let's go ride the bull to let off some steam and then the brothers go do it together. That would have been my preference to the montage of Dean not really knowing who he was.

Dean knew who he was. He didn't get whammied until after he left the bar. 

[Hanahope]

Good thing Dean automatically believed Sam and the male witch wasn’t quick enough to say “No! I’m your brother !”

Rowena wasn’t the most powerful witch even after the book of the damned?  Bet that annoys her.

Still surprised that Rowena helped them .  Can’t wait to see what favor she calls in.

[Wayward Son]

On 10/02/2017 at 3:19 AM, catrox14 said:

So no one called Cas? That's stupid

This bothered me the first time around, but it actually works for me this time around.

 

The episode actually addresses calling them when Dean tells Sam to not involve “mom or Cas”. So I’m going to take Sam’s actions as a slightly snarky “OK ill respect your wishes and not call them, but you ARE getting the help you’ll need so I’ll call Rowena. You didnt  mention her!” Plus tbh this was the type of witchy problem she seemed more suited to than Cas :)

[MysteryGuest]

On 9/26/2017 at 8:09 PM, bettername2come said:

This is a great episode for Rowena. Helps the Winchesters and gets owed a favor, gets compliments on her hair, gets revenge on people who she thinks have wronged her. 

I loved the episode for this reason too, but sadly...

Spoiler

this was the last we saw of Rowena until she was killed by Lucifer, and we didn't really get to see her then, either.  I felt cheated because I loved the idea that she was coming around to being an ally for the Winchesters, while still maintaining her snark.

[Myrelle]

This episode made S12 for this SPNfan. And that is All, to be perfectly honest...*shrugs*... 

[catrox14]

2 minutes ago, Myrelle said:

This episode made S12 for this SPNfan. And that is All, to be perfectly honest...*shrugs*... 

I loved this episode and I still feel like that closing montage was the beginning of a long goodbye for Dean.

(I still think Dean is gonna die before the end of the show).

Edited January 3, 2018 by catrox14

[FlickChick]

20 hours ago, catrox14 said:

I loved this episode and I still feel like that closing montage was the beginning of a long goodbye for Dean.

(I still think Dean is gonna die before the end of the show).

I do as well. Either a Butch/Sundance ending (my personal preference) or something so sad/brutal that I can't imagine it. Somehow I don't see a happy ending to this journey. The one thing I absolutely don't want is another "fake-out" death for any character - especially Dean.

[The Companion]

On 2/9/2017 at 8:10 PM, Jediknight said:

One last thing since Dean had amnesia this episode, I'd like to remind everybody that Dean killed Hitler.

It cannot be said enough. Also, I am now mad we didn't get to see his reaction to this bit of news.

On 2/9/2017 at 9:22 PM, Goldmoon said:

 

One other thing that stood out was Dean's easy dismissal of being seduced while roofied.  Had he been a woman saying to someone (a man) who had unintentionally took advantage, I would feel squicked about a woman saying, "Oh, no big deal."  We know Dean is a horndog, and it was supposed to be taken in that context, but still.

 

This show and consent. Sigh. I do appreciate that they had her immediately turn from angry to distressed that she might have taken advantage of him. 

 

On 2/10/2017 at 9:05 AM, Aeryn13 said:

So this was a good surprise, much better than expected and so much better than Yellow Fever. While I vastly prefer the dramatic bits to humorous ones in general on this show - if you can`t do humor, don`t do humor - here they weren`t mean-spirited and/or humiliation porn so it worked much better for me. It arose more from the situation and on top of it Dean even got moments of competence and saving the day. Hell yes. *fistpump* 

I immediately thought of Yellow Fever and how much better this episode was. 

On 2/10/2017 at 9:09 AM, Bessie said:

I liked that moment too, particularly the reaction shot of Sam where he looks like he wants to haul off and punch Dean for that joke, while at the same time he's just so damn relieved that Dean is okay. 

This was a beautiful bit of acting from JP. 

On 2/10/2017 at 11:22 AM, Wayward Son said:

I actually ended up liking that episode a lot better than I expected. Last week’s episode was still more to my taste, but overall they managed to make the episode a worthwhile watch.

In my opinion there was a sequence of three scenes in the middle of the episode that acted as its highlight. The first of these is the scene between the brothers in the motel bathroom. Sam and Dean’s emotions were palatable and Jared and Jensen clearly gave it everything they had. During this scene you could really tell that Sam was on the edge of breaking down, while forcing himself to remain strong for the vulnerable brother who needed him. While you could sense Dean’s fear, his heartbreak, and even his sense of indignation that after all they’d been through this was the thing that might take him down. The chemistry between Jared and Jensen was at its finest and it was a rather strong reminder of why so many of us still follow this show in season twelve.

The second scene I adored was the follow up scene with Rowena in the bedroom. This was for me Jared’s finest moment in the episode. Again, he managed to convey the anxiety and exhaustion felt by Sam. I think his statement “I have seen my brother die, but watching him become… not him, this might actually be worse” says it all. Sam has seen Dean die on several occasions over the years. There were the numerous deaths during Mystery Spot, his death by hellhounds in No Rest for the Wicked and of course his death at the hands of Metatron in Do You Believe in Miracles? However, the one thing Sam always had was the knowledge that his brother loved him and knew he was loved in turn. In this episode, he didn’t even have that comfort. Not only was Sam worried about having to watch his brother die, but he also had to prepare himself for the possibility that Dean would leave him without knowing who he was, who Sam was, and that he was loved. I can only imagine that’s a devastating possibility to face and Jared really conveyed that sense of solace.

The third scene then was Dean’s attempt to maintain his memory of himself, of his family and of Castiel. I have to admit that as a fan of Castiel and his friendship with Dean I was delighted to see Meredith Glynn chose to mention him rather than ignore his existence. However, to get back on track, Jensen clearly gave it his all in this scene. Dean’s struggle was not only shown in his facial expression, but even in the way that he spoke; the hesitance, the pauses between words, his growing frustration as he stubbornly attempted to recall his name before ultimately acknowledging with devastation “I don’t know”. The performance was poignant and Jensen really showed us all why so many consider him the strongest actor on the show.

I addition to these scenes, I also enjoyed the episodes characterisation of Rowena and its promises of growth in the character. I must admit I’ve never been a massive fan of the witch, but I actually enjoyed her performance this week. Ruth managed to maintain enough of Rowena’s wit and general demeanour to ensure she remained true to who we have seen so far, while offering a believable explanation for a sudden change of heart. I am actually excited to find out whether she can stick to this newfound revelation, or will she ultimately fade back into her old ways.

On the other hand, there were several things about the episode I was not that happy about. The first of these was the scene between the bartender and the brothers. I know that we weren’t meant to see Dean’s interaction with the waitress as the equivalent of being roofed up, especially since it took place before the spell, but nonetheless the way they handled it made me very uncomfortable. After all, the brothers did not have the comfort of knowing that, and the way Dean smugly smiled as he assured her it was ok felt very dismissive of the issue. It almost seemed to send out the message that it would have been OK if she had indeed taken advantage of Dean because she was hot. Like I said, I am sure that is not the message they were trying to convey, but nonetheless the scene just didn’t sit well with me. I think they really should have taken the time to show that the issue was important. It just wasn’t what had happened to Dean.

As I mentioned above, I was pleased with the fact that Castiel got a mention while Dean was trying to recall the most important figures in his life. However, that made Sam’s decision to not call him even stranger. I understand that the decision was most likely fuelled by behind the scene issue such as the fact Misha isn’t contracted to appear in every episode and they wanted the episodes focus to stay with the brothers. However, they could have attempted to provide an in character reason for the angels absence. For instance, now that he can no longer teleport, they could have had Sam tell Dean that he tried ringing Castiel, but he was far enough away that it would have taken him several days to get to Sam and Dean. This would have allowed Sam to make the logical decision to try receiving the help of a trusted ally before turning to the more dubious Rowena, while also providing a reason for Castiel to not come without giving the impression it was due to a lack of concern on his part.

Some random tidibts to finish off the review

-       I laughed when Rowena referred to the obliviate spell. It was a nice reference to the Harry Potter series for those of us who are fans of it.

-       I wasn’t a big fan of the montage at the end of the episode. It felt very random and gave the impression they were just trying to kill air time.

-       I felt for Rowena when she was being mocked by Catriona, and I admired her ability to remain calm until the right moment. I’m not sure I could have held my temper for as long as she did. However, I am not the biggest fan of them making a random witch we’ve never heard of before more powerful than her.

All of this, pretty much. There were so many great emotional moments in this one. JA and JP knocked it out of the park. 

I really like Rowena, and I actually didn't mind the softening of her character here, which felt much more earned and much less demeaning than the story she told before getting her neck snapped like a chicken (still mad). I also loved that she had multiple motivations (revenge, power, a favor and a softening towards the Winchesters). It was just so perfectly Rowena.

There were a lot of people who identified with the memory loss because of dementia and Alzheimers (and to be clear, if I liked something you said it was a "sending love and thanks for sharing" like because nobody likes these heartbreaking conditions). I used to do trusts and estates work and I worked with many families who struggled with these conditions. I thought the depiction was spot on enough to hit a lot of the right notes and I appreciated that the show treated memory loss with some gravity. There were a lot of scenes with real emotional heft. Obviously, the mirror scene was incredible. So was watching Sam start to realize something was seriously wrong and his reaction when his brother pranked him. I loved that we saw realistic denial from Dean (so many of my clients lied and tried to hide their memory loss out of embarrassment). I thought there was a great balance between levity, sadness and despair. 

Rowena was peak awesome. I love her as a character and as a villain and I really enjoyed getting her without Crowley (despite how much I love the way she draws out FER-GUS).

The only miss for me (other than the consent issues, sigh) was the sister witch. I thought she made some really weird choices. She was so melodramatic and her mannerisms were so much. I wondered if she just had a lot of theater background and didn't know how to scale down for the camera or something. She took me out of the episode. Luckily, she wasn't in it much so I could deal. 

I haven't loved this season, so this one was a pleasant surprise. 

[gonzosgirrl]

24 minutes ago, The Companion said:

This show and consent. Sigh. I do appreciate that they had her immediately turn from angry to distressed that she might have taken advantage of him. 

I assumed his dalliance with her was before the encounter with the witch and him forgetting the events was a result of the whammy.

Jensen deserved an award for this episode, but it's not one I will rewatch simply because I consider it the beginning of the end of Dean Winchester as we knew him. At the time, I was certain they were killing him off and that montage was his requiem. Little did I know it was only going to be figurative character assassination, not literal.

[The Companion]

2 minutes ago, gonzosgirrl said:

I assumed his dalliance with her was before the encounter with the witch and him forgetting the events was a result of the whammy.

Jensen deserved an award for this episode, but it's not one I will rewatch simply because I consider it the beginning of the end of Dean Winchester as we knew him. At the time, I was certain they were killing him off and that montage was his requiem. Little did I know it was only going to be figurative character assassination, not literal.

That is discouraging to hear. He was fantastic here. He has this great ability to know when to be subtle and when to lean into a scene, if that makes sense. 

I think you are correct that his memory loss was actually retroactive, so perhaps I should have said the cavalier way they treated it even though he actually wasn't impaired when he gave consent. This was probably one of the less problematic examples of consent issues on the show, but it still felt like they were saying: it's cool cause she is hot and he's a dude. Coming off the literal mindfuck earlier in the season, it felt squicky. Given that it wasn't really central to the episode, why have it go down that way? Why not have him flirting and then standing her up? If they wanted to include it, at least don't play it for laughs. 

[gonzosgirrl]

10 minutes ago, The Companion said:

I think you are correct that his memory loss was actually retroactive, so perhaps I should have said the cavalier way they treated it even though he actually wasn't impaired when he gave consent. This was probably one of the less problematic examples of consent issues on the show, but it still felt like they were saying: it's cool cause she is hot and he's a dude. Coming off the literal mindfuck earlier in the season, it felt squicky. Given that it wasn't really central to the episode, why have it go down that way? Why not have him flirting and then standing her up? If they wanted to include it, at least don't play it for laughs. 

Honestly, I was so amazed and pleased that they actually had a young, beautiful woman find him attractive and hot (cuz you know, that Jensen Ackles is kind of a grody old troll) that I didn't even think about any possible triggers. It's sad that it's so unheard of in this show that it was one of the reasons I thought they were killing him off. At the least I expected her to end up being in on it.

Edited February 28, 2020 by gonzosgirrl

[Bergamot]

On 1/2/2018 at 10:18 PM, Myrelle said:

This episode made S12 for this SPNfan. 

For me too! I loved this episode. I think it was the only one in this entire season that I enjoyed watching from start to finish.

I had kind of a different reaction than some did, though. To me, the episode was not just about the tragedy of Dean losing his memory, although of course that was part of the story -- it was about what this showed us about who Dean is.

I liked the playing of the song at the end better once I remembered the rest of the lyrics. I am old enough to remember when it first came out, but I had forgotten that it was actually an anti-war song from the Vietnam War era. So I was thinking when I heard it in this episode how strange it was, to refer to growing up to be a man as a "dreadful thing".

But then I remembered that the song is not just about a little boy who has to leave behind his toys and take on adult responsibilities someday, as we all must. It's about the fact that there is a war to be fought, and the boy will have to become a soldier, and learn to hate and kill the enemy, and watch his brothers die.  (Broomstick Cowboy)  Which of course is just what happened to Dean, and it was even more dreadful and tragic because it happened to him when he was only 4 years old.

I thought it was interesting what the spell showed us about who Dean is at his core. Who would Dean be if all the weight he has been carrying since he was 4 years old could be stripped away, if all the lifelong pain and damage had not happened? We saw a Dean who was stripped to his essence.

And I liked who the essential Dean was shown to be. He was sweet and good-natured -- without knowing who she was, he was generous and kind even to Rowena. He was fun and charming, filled with a zest and an ability to enjoy life. And he was brave, eager and ready to take on the monsters of the Supernatural world, even without the ability to draw on his experience as a hunter.

I think the spell showed us that Dean is special and awesome in spite of the tragedy and damage of his life, not because of it.

Edited February 29, 2020 by Bergamot

[FlickChick]

@Bergamot, what a wonderful, thoughtful post. Thanks for posting your thoughts. Unfortunately, it's almost impossible to recognize the real Dean Winchester these days - and I think it will probably be that way until the final curtain falls. 😞

[Myrelle]

Bumping this one because I'm getting ready to watch it again and now, after all is said and done, I still love every scene in it so much...

[gonzosgirrl]

1 hour ago, Myrelle said:

Bumping this one because I'm getting ready to watch it again and now, after all is said and done, I still love every scene in it so much...

I remember thinking that we were meant to say goodbye to Dean at the end of this one. :(  It is such a good episode for him. I only with the editors hadn't chopped up his bathroom scene so much.