Well, that was a roundabout way to remind us that Dean’s keeping a huge secret from his brother.
On Supernatural Season 15 Episode 16, we learn that there were repurcussions to a secret Dean kept from his brother in the past, but it didn’t seem like the circumstances of past and present were on the same playing field.
It was also another opportunity to see a version of young Dean and Sam, and while it’s still tough seeing different kids in the roles (and Sam being so small!), their story was compelling in light of their current task.
Because damn, it’s time for them to catch a break.
They’ve done it long enough now that when God is finally killed, they need to find some peace and happiness. The hardest part of all of this is that we don’t know what a world without God (or can we consider him A god?) will look like. CAN they have happiness if God dies?
But what the story was really all about was how much they have changed through the years, and even if their love for each other has remained the same, they haven’t changed as much as they might need to stay together.
It was interesting that we were reminded about Sam going off to college, especially since Sam always wanted to partner with Dean, who thought he was doing what was best for his brother by letting him go.
Dean is following old patterns, protecting his brother from things that he doesn’t think he can handle.
It’s made worse in light of Jack’s decision to sacrifice himself and how the current plan requires a sacrifice of that magnitude to work.
Dean is pragmatic and stands by the plan, while Sam wants to shake the tree to see what else can fall out before commiting to someone else he loves being sacrificed.
Everybody else they’ve lost, and none of them made that significant of a difference to the situation at hand, no matter what it was. Just look at how Mary died.
She lost her life to Jack’s hands as some kind of a lesson that Amara was teaching Dean. She was brought back only to be unceremoniously dispatched without making a lasting effect.
Or did it? It’s because of Dean that Jack’s life is on the line. From what I gathered from Billie’s brief visit with Dean, Jack’s chosen to sacrifice himself to kill God because he believes that’s the only way he can get his forgiveness.
We knew that already, but what we didn’t know was that Billie posited the plan to Jack with that as the caveat. She flat out admitted that she persuaded Jack to be the plan’s pawn with the suggestion that his part in killing Chuck would earn Dean’s forgiveness.
It seems to me that the final steps will include Dean learning to trust his brother and to forgive those he loves for things over which they had no control.
That Jack didn’t have a soul when he killed Mary should hit home with Dean as much as it hits home with Sam. They have both been in and out of hell, possessed by demons, sold their souls and so much more so many times that it’s impossible not to see the blind spot Dean cannot get past to forgive Jack.
Sam wasn’t in the mood to fight over it, and who could blame him? He was just hit by the news that Dean never told him about finding the nest of kids, and the one-two punch was that, oh yeah, while you were wondering why Cass just left without saying anything, well, he did say something.
It’s got to be infuriating, and I can only hope it’s not infuriating enough to damage their relationship as they wait for Chuck to get the drop on them.
They all have to be on the same page to pull this off, whatever this turns out to be. And do any of you believe that Chuck’s death is really the final word on things?
It seems wrong that after all of this, it’s another death that will set things right. Not just one, but at least two. Jack and his goodness for Chuck’s reign of terror.
It really seems that the bigger picture is about forgiveness and understanding, and their journey will only end when it’s achieved.
So to that end, I appreciated revisitng the young Winchesters to see how far they’ve come and just how much farther they need to go.
But geez, with only a handful of episodes left, the boys are going to have to grow quite a bit for any of my thoughts to come to frutition. So maybe I’m all wrong.
Where do you guys stand on the final few episodes? Do you really think death is their way to peace? Is it time for them change direction and stop thinking that taking the same path will yield different results?
It’s your turn. Hit the comments and share your thoughts about all the thing as we near the end. And remembrer that you can always watch Supernatural online to get more from the Winchesters.
Carissa Pavlica is the managing editor and a staff writer and critic for TV Fanatic. She’s a member of the Critic’s Choice Association, enjoys mentoring writers, cats, and passionately discussing the nuances of television and film. Follow her on Twitter and email her here at TV Fanatic.