Review for 3x10 'Dream A Little Dream Of Me'

[galathea]

This week's episode by Cathryn Humphris and Sera Gamble was an intense emotional ride, that took the characters a step further, provided a lot of backstory and notched up the difficult and hopeless situation the boys are in once again. Good times! *g*



It’s midseason and promptly Supernatural delivers the final turn of events in the character arcs! I love the parallel seasonal structures of the show to death, I think I might have mentioned that already last year after episode 10. *g* Asylum/Scarecrow, Croatoan/Hunted, Malleus Maleficarum/ Dream A Little Dream Of Me, in each of these midseason episode pairs, the brothers hit rock bottom after a phase of drifting apart, only to pick up the pieces again, reaffirm their brotherhood and focus on their mutual goal together. ♥

Sam: "Really, the thing is no one can save you. No one can save you, because you don’t want to be saved!"

I loved the opening sequence between the boys in the bar! Sam brooding and getting drunk in the middle of the day was so very Sam. Once he decides on something, he throws himself fully into it, no matter if it is giving up or fighting. Sam questioning his brother’s lack of self-preservation and his attempt to get Dean to talk to him, was heartbreaking to watch. It’s no wonder that Dean feels uncomfortable with letting Sam into his dreams later in the episode, given how much Sam wishes to understand his brother better, he simply doesn't want Sam to see the mess, that he hides behind his defences, unfiltered. He spent a lifetime of keeping his self-confidence up in front of his brother and even if he shows a lot more openness about his own feelings lately, there are some thoughts and feelings that should only be privy to oneself.

What Sam fails to see though (and what’s also overlooked in Dean’s confrontation with himself later), when he asks Dean why he cares so little about himself, is that it’s not just Dean’s lack of concern for himself, which holds him back from being an active part in his own salvation, but mainly his concern for Sam’s life. The fact that Sam dies, should Dean try to weasel out of his deal, is a near insurmountable factor for Dean's motivation in the whole deal situation. Dean already stated that he has no death wish in The Magnificent Seven and while he might not have cared much about his own fate before Ruby’s little revelation, I never had the impression that he actually wanted to die. Talking about Ruby, it’s interesting that Dean obviously told Sam about Ruby’s revelation about humans turning into demons, while he didn’t have the heart to tell him that Ruby lied to him about being able to save Dean from the deal. Ruby is Sam’s last hope and taking that away from Sam would throw his brother even more into despair, so it is not surprising that Dean held back that information.

Anyway, last episode I wanted a deeper look into why Sam seemed to have given up so suddenly and completely on his brother’s rescue, despite his fierceness earlier in the season, and I loved that they retroactively delivered here. I already suspected that after their reconciliation in Fresh Blood, where Sam made the first silent concession that he might not be able to save Dean, he might have lost hope altogether in the months that followed, fuelled by his brother’s acceptance of his impending death. The knowledge that Dean was absolutely unwilling to support his efforts, even announced to sabotage whatever actions he might try, only added to his descend into despair, because he needed Dean’s strength and reassurance for this emotionally immensely straining burden.

With Dean’s admission at the end of Dream A Little Dream Of Me, that he wants to live and doesn’t want to go to hell, the last barrier has finally broken down, and Sam latches on to his brother's change of heart, giving Dean the reassurance and hope he needs, thus building up his own again. The situation is just as hopeless as it was before, but the fact that they are both on the same page now, supporting each other, makes all the difference for Sam. Dean’s visible relief at Sam’s unhesitatingly offered cooperation and the silent look they shared afterwards was just beautiful to see. They both turned a corner here. Oh boys! ♥ ♥

Bobby: "Everybody got into hunting somehow!"

Finally we got some of Bobby's backstory, and it was utterly satisfying how appropriately his history fits the Bobby we got to know over the last two seasons. The personal tragedy that hit Bobby, i.e. killing his possessed wife, and the guilt he carried ever since he realised his mistake, was a stunning reveal. I love though, that the realisation that his own lack of knowledge was ultimately responsible for her death, drove Bobby into dedicating his life to research on demons and possession. It perfectly explains his expertise in the field and his caution towards demons, bordering on paranoia. It also gives a new tragic layer to one of Bobby’s earliest statements he ever made in the show, namely his observation in Devil’s Trap that there are only 3-4 demonic possessions per year, to now learn that he was one of the few who actually had first hand experience of such a possession is incredibly sad. It also explains his extreme compassion towards Meg, because to stand by and observe her exorcism at Dean's hand surely evoked memories of his own wife and her tragic end.

Bobby’s backstory also highlightens how very different Bobby and John handled the loss of their wives. While Bobby clearly suffers from guilt over not being able to prevent his wife’s death, he didn’t let it drive him into despair and revenge, instead he dedicated his life to acquiring as much knowledge as he can, to prevent other people from going through the same and come to think of it, that’s a striking parallel to Dean’s own approach to hunting. Unlike John, Bobby was able to keep a regular source of income and a permanent home, build up a social network and still become a formidable hunter, even though he didn’t have kids to keep him grounded.

I think it’s mainly their different temperament that explains John and Bobby’s different reactions, but maybe also the factor, that while John may have felt guilt over not being able to save Mary from the fire, Bobby actually had an active part in killing his wife, which probably lead more to self-loathing about his own involvement, instead of focussing his energies on the hate towards the demon that possessed her in the first place. So, I can easily see Bobby’s feelings turning inwards, while John’s feelings turned outwards. That’s another point in which Bobby might relate to Dean, especially if we look back on their conversation about Dean making the deal for Sam’s life in All Hell Breaks Loose II.

It was always visible how much Bobby doted on Sam and Dean and given the fact that their bond reaches back into their early childhood, probably even shortly after he lost his wife and with her the prospect of children of his own, he very likely harboured fatherly feelings for the boys of his friend ever since John walked into his life. So it really teared me up to learn that Bobby even has Dean as his emergency contact listed, it makes sense and reveals how much Bobby considers the Winchesters as his own family. ♥

I also appreciated that this episode showed how much the boys return that sentiment, especially Dean, who tries so hard to not become attached to people if he can avoid it. Dean’s desperate statement that Bobby is like a father to him and that he won’t let him die was heartbreaking. He couldn’t save John, but he won’t lose another one of his little family. Dean’s intense expression, when he holds wake at Bobby’s hospital bed, speaks volumes of his emotional investment in the man. Dean loved John, no doubts about that, but Bobby’s reliability, his easy approach and open affection towards the boys are something that Dean latches onto and that he probably missed in John.

Their short but earnest and heartfelt conversation after Bobby wakes up again, shows their mutual closeness as well. I loved that Dean felt comfortable enough to ask Bobby about his traumatic personal experience and Bobby’s sincere gratitude for Dean saving him out of his nightmare was palpable. The scene was acted out wonderfully subtle and subdued, Jim Beaver and Jensen Ackles really play well off each other. It’s always visible, when the actors got the chance to bond over a longer period of time working together, a chance that the boys don’t get very often in the show.

Dean: "My father was an obsessed bastard. All that crap he told me about protecting Sam, that was his crap. He’s the one who couldn’t protect his family. He’s the one who let Mom die, who wasn’t there for Sam, I always was. He wasn’t fair, I ain’t deserve what he put on me and I don’t deserve to go to hell!"

Dean’s dream sequence broke my heart all over again for the boy. While the content of his dream was barely surprising to the viewer after 2.5 seasons of watching the internal struggle of that character, it is the fierceness of his meltdown that is shocking here. The conversation with Ruby in Malleus Maleficarum obviously had a tremendous impact on Dean, as it effectively destroyed any hope he still might have harboured about his salvation and turned the prospect of going to hell into his worst nightmare. The lack of hope, combined with his innate insecurities and fears, result in an outburst of emotions, when Dean is subconsciously confrontated with his own issues, an outburst that was very reminiscent of his anger at the end of Everybody Loves A Clown, where he also destroyed a (symbolic) representation of himself, i.e. the Impala.

This episode was co-written by Cathryn Humphris who already shed a more detailed light on the troubled relationship between John and his sons in Dead Man’s Blood, so it was no surprise to see Dream A Little Dream Of Me hit a similar note. The thing about John’s character is that, given the nature of the show, we are very rarely witness to John’s real feelings and motivations and we only see him through the eyes of the boys, Bobby or Ellen and that is kind of the point: The show never excuses John’s actions, it simply shows us the fallout of his decisions, no matter how they came to pass or how well-meaning his intentions originally might have been and especially in Dean’s case that’s very painful.

In Dean’s confrontation with himself we see two extremes of Dean: dream!Dean is Dean at his lowest point, a representation of everything he hates about himself. It's the Dean who constantly questions himself, who feels worthless, considers himself a failure and hates his dependency on Sam and John, a part that Dean usually closes off deep inside him. Dreamwalking!Dean represents the middle ground, the Dean with his defences and self-confidence in place, who knows that what dream!Dean claims is not all that he is. When dream!Dean teases him into a fury though, he turns into angry!Dean, the other extreme. This part of Dean doubts his father and rightfully calls him on causing most of his insecurities in the first place. It’s the Dean that came to question his father over the last season and finally allows himself to reject the burdens that John put on him. It’s a burst of anger against the unfairness that life threw at him and John is a part of that. That doesn’t mean that Dean doesn’t love his father or can’t see beyond that anger, but both these extreme parts coexist in Dean and usually it depends on the circumstances which one has the upper hand.

We see dream!Dean’s arguments surface in the Dean from In My Time Of Dying, who honestly believed John would just watch him die, without trying to save him, in the Dean from What Is and What Should Never Be, who was convinced that his father would tell him that his own happiness means nothing in the grander scheme of things, in the Dean from Devil’s Trap who instinctively knew that John would never praise him for saving Sam’s life with a precious bullet from the Colt. I flashed back to Devil’s Trap especially in this episode. First time around, I interpreted the YEDs words to Dean about Sam being John’s favourite son as a twisting of truth that he read from John’s feelings, but over the course of S2 I changed my take on that scene and came to the conclusion the YED read Dean’s insecurity over his father’s feelings for him from Dean himself, and this scene in Dream A Little Dream Of Me kind of confirmed that interpretation.

This is the first time though, where Dean voices his anger and resentment towards his father so clearly. We saw glimpses of his anger towards John at the end of Everybody Loves A Clown or in his conversation with drunken Sam in Playthings, but here it reaches a new level of clarity and intensity. While most of Dean’s conversation with himself wasn’t exactly new to the viewer there were at least two statements that were unexpected for me: Firstly, Dean’s admission that there are moments, where he holds John responsible for not being able to prevent Mary’s death, broke my heart. Dean was 4 years old when his world went up in flames around him, and I can easily see how a child of that age would have difficulties to come to terms with that kind of loss and might subconsciously redirect his grief into an accusation against his surviving parent. Secondly, Dean’s feeling that John put the responsibility for their family on Dean's shoulders, because his father was unable to save their family himself, that John relied on Dean to do what he couldn’t achieve himself, was interesting, since it’s the first time Dean alludes to his father as weak.

The main reason why this internal conversation isn’t completely redundant though, is the fact that Dean actively fights back the nagging voice of self-doubt, fear and insecurity within himself and ultimately wins the upper hand. He takes back the control over his life and finally realises that he deserves to live and wants to fight for his life. That's a huge step for Dean's development towards a more accurate self-image. In expressing his anger, it seems, he takes the first step to actually overcome his own issues! In the past Dean's internal struggles with self-worth and doubt usually ended in defeat, this time though, he didn’t let his self-worth issues bring him down, and that’s a step in the right direction! ♥

On a side note: I thought it was very touching that Dean still dreams of Lisa and Ben and still harbours a deep seated wish for a family of his own, even if it was the repitition of a theme we've seen a couple of times now. I loved how embarrassed Dean was at Sam witnessing the scene, and how hesitant and low-key Sam’s reaction played out, as he tried not to pry and give his brother some space. Lovely!

Bela: "So, when do we go on this little magical, mystery tour?"

Okay, serious rant ahead, please feel free to skip this passage. I was alread complaining in Red Sky At Morning how the boys were taken slightly out of character to accommodate Bela’s appearance in the episode, but I think Dream A Little Dream Of Me was even worse, and that was the only part about this episode that seriously annoyed me. It’s not a problem of Bela’s character per se, but more how they try to fit episodes around Bela, even if her appearance doesn’t make any sense at all. When she shows up in a plotline it is usually contrived and forced and doesn’t work well, which is really frustrating, because I think she had good potential. I was really positive about Bela’s addition in the beginning, but unfortunately her appearances in the show so far turned me off the character fast, even more so than with Jo last year, who after initial rejection grew on me.

Firstly, there is no reason or plausible motivation for the brothers to contact Bela in the context of this episode, especially given their past encounters with her! She shot Sam, showed no concern for their lives on several occasions, put a killer on their trail without a second thought, showed them nothing but contempt and showered them with insults. Heck, last episode they talked, Dean even seriously considered killing Bela, and now he’s going to call her for a favour? No way, sorry! She put one over them again and again, they know for a fact that she is not trustworthy and never feels indebted to people, but pays them off instead and generally only acts on her own behalf. Dean calling Bela for help is one of the occasions where forced plotlines clearly mess with character integrity, and that’s so very rare in Supernatural that it really hits me hard that they actually went there. The boys have other contacts and it would have been easy to just acquire the dream root via Doctor Gregg’s lab, so there’s no reason for Bela’s involvement whatsoever.

Secondly, even if it was only played for a gag, Sam entertaining erotic dreams about Bela is so far out of character that I don’t even know where to begin. All women so far we have seen Sam attracted to were beautiful, strong, warm-hearted and kind women, and he showed nothing but contempt for Bela’s actions so far, so where should the psychological motivation for that dream sequence come from? Even if we refer to 'dream logic', i.e. the subconscious isn't logic and acts on primal instincts, the sex scene was unnecessary and implausible and hence felt like it was only added for a little 'action'. However, I really adored Jared’s comedic delivery in that whole scene, his awkwardness and embarrassment were well played, and the brotherly ribbing about wet dreams was hilarious, but we could’ve had that without the dream sequence before.

Thirdly, when have we ever seen the boys put something in the safe of a random motel room? All their weapons are usually hidden in the Impala’s weapon trunk and ever since the restoration of the Colt, they had it on themselves at all times, after all, they never knew when they would run into yet another demon ploy. Again, it’s annoying that they force Sam and Dean into atypical behaviour only to provide a situation for Bela to acquire the Colt. There are so many other, more plausible, possibilities to achieve that turn of events, that I have to wonder why the writers went about it in this fashion. I am at a point where I’d rather see Bela written off the show than make any more of these allowances for her character.

The only silver lining that came out of the whole Bela debacle in this episode is that, with the Colt gone, the boys are forced to again rely on themselves more, on their own skills and resources. If the situation with the demonic forces was difficult before, now it became outright hopeless, but the Colt was too convenient, and I complained about its restoration in Sin City already, so I look forward to the brothers exploring new ways to defeat the demons, as long as it doesn’t mean they become completely reliant on Ruby’s strength instead now. With every other character than Bela, I would also assume that stealing the Colt finally places her as a clear cut villain, who won’t get another reprieve from Sam and Dean, but I already thought that was the case after Fresh Blood and was disappointed here, so I wouldn’t bet on it. So far, the handling of Bela’s character is probably one of the biggest annoyances in S3!

What else was noteworthy:

(1) The monster-of-the-week story was kind of sidelined by the intense emotional exploration of the main characters in this episode, but it was still interesting, as it picked up the theme of dysfuncional families and the destructive effects they can have on children. Not unlike Tiny’s story in Folsom Prison Blues, the story of Jeremy and his father offers a good contrast and comparison to the Winchesters. It’s always satisfying to see that, however screwed up the Winchester family is, their love and loyalty for each other in the end sets them apart from most other dysfunctional families in Supernatural.

(2) Although it was nearly completely glossed over in the end, this is the first episode where Sam actually kills a human being, who abused supernatural powers for his own gain. While it can be argued that Sam had no other choice than to kill Jeremy, in order to save himself and Dean from being trapped in the dream world, it is still noteworthy. It is especially chilling, that he killed Jeremy in the exact same fashion, his abusive father used hurt him, with a baseball bat to the head. I wished we had seen at least some fallout to that event afterwards.

(3) It’s also interesting that this was the first time that Sam actually didn’t deny that he might still have his psychic powers or that he at least isn’t sure about it. While it is understandable that he didn’t confide with Kubrick or Ruby about his doubts concerning his powers, his admission to Bobby still surprised me. I loved this little exchange between Bobby and Sam and while they are obviously not as close as Dean and Bobby, it shows that Sam turns to Bobby with the same trust like Dean.

(4) On a more funny note, overtired, caffeinated and highly irritable Dean was totally adorable. ♥ He really should’ve let Sam drive though, it was irresponsible to drive in that condition. And that end scene, damn that was chilling! Demonic!Dean snipping his fingers, indicating that this is actually his 'little siesta', the stark black and white contrast, the echo and Dean’s malicious smile made me shudder. Great way to end the episode! Kudos!

In conclusion: If the rest of the episode hadn’t been so excellent, Bela’s plotline in Dream A Little Dream Of Me would have seriously put me off the episode, not unlike in Red Sky At Morning, but luckily the exploration of Bobby and the brothers made up for a lot and altogether placed this as another wonderful instalment in this season for me. I probably shouldn’t put rants at the end of reviews, ‘cause it may leave the impression that I didn’t love this episode, but I really did, despite Bela and I can’t wait for the next episode to come along!

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Did you know? When they filmed the scene where Bobby wakes up in the hospital and talks to Sam and Dean, Jared grabbed Beaver's toes just outside the camera frame, trying to get him to break character. Beaver stoically delivered the scene, then turned to Jared and yelled: 'What's wrong with you?!' *g*