This week, “The Curious Case Of Dean Winchester” brought another stand-alone episode, and that’s just fine by me. Like everyone else, I’m eagerly awaiting any progress where the apocalypse, and Lucifer, are concerned. As long as the stand-alones have guest performances like we saw this week though, I’m more than happy to wait. It really is hard to argue against an episode that offers an 80-year-old Dean appearing in his own Grumpy Old Men spoof with Bobby, and has Sam getting a case of the magical clap. Right?
The highlight for me was old Dean. A lot of the credit for that goes to Chad Everett (Manhattan AZ) . That really was a great bit of casting. But it also goes to show just how well-crafted Supernatural is. Jensen Ackles is great in the role of Dean, but this far into the series, the character is so well developed that it’s grown beyond his performance, and lends itself well to interpretations like this. There wasn’t a moment where it seemed hokey, or like this was someone playing at being Dean. That’s our Dean, in 50 years.
There were a lot of great bits in that performance. From the first meeting between Sam and Dean (Emperor Palpatine, LOL), to the freakout about the acid reflux, right through to the fact that old Dean is already putting together a bucket list. My favorite bit though, was his little run in with the housekeeper. The look when she shot him down, and then laughed at him…. Crushing blows.
The setup to get us to that point was solid as well, and also owes a little to more good casting. Hal Ozsan (Californication) was very good as Patrick. More importantly, it set the stage for a very entertaining set of reveals as it all came to a head. It sure looked like Sam was running renegade when he went to play the game. But wait, he was in on the spell plan all along. Then, just as that looked to be paying dividends, Patrick was on to them. I didn’t see the switched toothpick coming at all. And through all of it, the mystery of just what Lia (Pascale Hutton, Traveler) was up to hung over everything. It was all very fun.
The closest thing we had to bigger picture story came from Bobby’s involvement. It was also the one place where I was totally wrong. Did anyone else think Sam was going to slide a couple of those chips Bobby’s way to get him out of the wheelchair? In bigger picture thoughts, though, the episode tossed the idea out there that Bobby might not always be around. I suspect the general reaction to that from fans would not be drastically different than Dean’s own reaction. He’s become such a part of the show that it’s almost unthinkable to imagine the show without his sage advice being just a phone call away. Without spoiling, I’ll just add that curious postings to twitter also have that idea on the forefront of a lot of minds.
Fortunately, we won’t have to deal with that for now. A nice moment shared between Dean and Bobby looks to have things back on the right path. Just as another great entry in the big Supernatural storybook has the show continuing down the right path. Next week, more stand-alone shenanigans as the boys get trapped in TV. Dyn-0-mite!
Clacked by Brett Love 
on Oct 29, 2009 @ 23:39 EST5EDT
I was shocked that Dean didn’t win an extra chip for Bobby. And almost more shocked that Bobby didn’t ask why not? Or, why not cash in 24 chips for Dean and one for Bobby? Dean is no longer expected to die in a year, and age is different than demon death. I would have totally turned my brother 31 for our best friend to walk.
I wonder how many younger viewers went to the ‘net to see if they could figure out why Dean called Bobby Ironsides. LOL I love Kripke for his deep pop references.
I think the two moments when Everett was most able to capture the essence of Dean were mentioned in your post. When he greeted the maid at the door, and when he thought he had heartburn. The way he said – what is it? – when told it wasn’t a heart attack was so very Jensen Ackles’ Dean.
Great show, and I love stand alone episodes as much as lore, and I welcome the switch up from gloom to goofy and back again.
Totally disagree that Dean’s character has outgrown Jensen’s abilities. Jensen continues to have Dean grow and that shows off just how much of an amazing talent Jensen is. Jensen, in my opinion, is the best you’re gonna find. I say that not because he’s handsome or a wonderful person, but because I believe he is just that good. I enjoyed the episode but Chad was ok for me. Old Dean just didnt ring out for me, but then neither did teen Dean. Now young Dean, thats another story.
*POST AUTHOR*
KT, there may be something lost in the translation there. I’m not implying that Dean is somehow beyond Jensen Ackle’s abilities. Rather, submitting that between the way the writer’s have written Dean, and the way Ackles has portrayed him, they’ve created a character that the fans identify so well with that things like old Dean work even better. The best Dean will, of course, always be the Ackles version.