By John Keegan
Entering the “dreamtime” is a long-honored plot device in genre storytelling, and this episode is another great example of how that plot device can be used effectively. Dreams have power because they reveal hidden depths of an individual: hopes, fears, and desires. In a certain sense, we’ve already seen Dean’s hopes reflected in “What Is and What Should Never Be”. Considering his current circumstances, fears are certainly more appropriate.
The writers set the tone with Bobby’s experience. Bobby’s nightmare was a compelling way to flesh out his back story, and it reinforces the notion that most hunters take up the business out of personal tragedy. It also provides a logical way to introduce how the dreamroot works. It also gives deal an external reason for calling on Bela’s assistance. Structurally speaking, it’s a great way to handle the prerequisites for Dean’s experience.
Sam’s dream about Bela is interesting for more reasons than one. Bela is certainly attractive in her own way, but she’s also the one who happily shot Sam for personal gain. It’s not entirely clear why Sam would dream about her specifically, from a character perspective. It probably works better as a reflection of male fantasy, which often defies logic, and nice setup for his discomfort in the subsequent scene. (Not to mention that it annoyed the fans who still feel entitled to tell Kripke how to run his show.)
The meat of the episode, however, is Dean’s showdown with himself in the “dreamtime”, which was a rather necessary direction for the season arc to take. Dean has been sublimating all of his anxiety since the minute the season began, and it has been building to a personal epiphany. Ruby’s revelation in the previous episode is just the right impetus to drive this confrontation to its inevitable conclusion.
The interesting thing about dreams, particularly dreams derived from negative emotions, is that they can be filled with odd and illogical resentments. For example, Dean’s demonic doppelganger presses the idea that John Winchester favored Sam. There’s not much truth to that statement, especially when the reality is quickly reflected by Dean’s point about always being there for Sammy. I can’t help but think that it was Jeremy taking hold of some randomness in Dean’s self-loathing psychology, blowing it out of proportion and giving the real Dean something to deny.
Dean now wants to live, and as one would expect based on the season-long foreshadowing, it’s too little, too late. There are no options left, except the one that has been staring Sam in the face for months. After all, if Dean goes to Hell, the only way for Sam to get him out is to gain total access and control over the horde. Because there is no Lucifer figure, according to Ruby, it’s possible that Sam would have the authority he desires. I’m still convinced, however, that Sam will attempt to accept his role as the leader of the demonic army in the hopes that he can find a loophole, only to find that the role itself is more seductive than he imagined.