Supernatural - "What Is and What Should Never Be"

Big ups to Rohin for covering Supernatural last week while I was out of the country. While my recap won't be nearly as focused on the relative hotness of Jared and Jensen, I did realize this week that I have been being sexist as I reflected on the fact that the actress that plays Jess was way too hot to have been offed in the pilot (although she was hotter in the pilot). But that was part of the genius of how this show began. There was a bit in the beginning of the pilot that was so overly WB, with Sammy's hot girlfriend and black best friend while some Emo crap played in the background. Then by the end of the very first hour, they had trashed that concept so throughly, ending with Jess's death and a little AC/DC, I knew I had a new favorite show.

This week, we get a bit of a sidestep before what is sure to be an awesome two-part season finale (and that's assuming that it doesn't end in a cliffhanger). Once again, it's pretty much the Dean show, which seems a bit extreme following the “Hollywood Babylon” episode so closely.

THEN: Supernatural had a pilot episode.

NOW: Dean's on the hunt for a Djinn, while Sammy's paranoid about the cops outside their hotel room. Dean wonders what the deal is with the myths about the Djinn's powers to grant wishes. While Dean checks out a ruin where he suspects the Djinn might be hiding, he gets ambushed and the Djinn's blue electrical hands do their thing on his noggin.

Flames. Titles.

Dean wakes up suddenly to the sounds of an old horror movie and finds a hottie sleeping next to him. My fiancee would never let me sleep with the damn TV on. Dean attempts to call Sam, but Sammy only hears “the gin” when Dean tries to tell him what happened with the Djinn. Dean discovers that he's apparently living in Lawrence with a chick named Carmen. He peruses the photos around and sees something that shocks him. He runs out the door.

Moments later, Dean is banging on the door of his childhood home. The door open and he's face to face with his mother. She considerably less burny and much further from the ceiling than the last time we saw her. She invites him in and Dean struggles to understand. He tests her, but she passes with flying colors. Dean's overjoyed. He looks over the family photos, showing all the things that he never got to do in real life (including some dorky looking shots of Jensen). Apparently, Papa Winchester was a softball player, which is amusing to Dean. But Papa is still dead. He died of a stroke in his sleep, but even that seems to please Dean. Momma Winchester is also convinced that Dean's been drinking, but she lets him stay the night.

In the morning, things are still the same so Dean searches out information on Djinn's from a local university professor. He tells Dean that according to the stories, the Djinn are supposed to be godlike and able to alter reality. Dean tries to understand what the Djinn have to gain. The professor also thinks that Dean's a boozer.

Outside, Dean spots a strange girl watching him, but as he gets closer, she seems to vanish.

At Chez Winchester, Dean is excited to be living such a normal life. He loves sandwiches and gets an absolute thrill mowing the front lawn. While enjoying a beer on the stoop, Sammy arrives with Jessica, also less burny than previously. They're in fresh from California for Mama Winchester's b-day. That night, everyone enjoys a fancy dinner and Sam and Jess reveal that they're engaged. Everyone is thrilled and Dean is truly happy for Sam, but at that very moment, he sees the mysterious girl staring at him. Again, when he gets closer she seems to vanish.

Back at the Winchester compound, Mama Winchester turns in, but Dean doesn't want to call it a night. Sammy pulls him aside and questions why he's being so warm and fuzzy. Turns out that in this reality, Sammy (sorry, not Sammy) and Dean hardly even speak to each other. Dean is apparently a dick when he doesn't have protective-type things to do for his brother. And that's the rub. Dean truly regrets a world where he and Sam aren't close.

Later, Dean thinks out loud with his imaginary girlfriend, and he figures that he can fix the things in this world that don't work. He feels like he has a second chance at life. Before getting laid though, imaginary girlfriend has to head off to her imaginary nurse job. On the news, Dean catches a story about the anniversary of a plane crash that in reality, he stopped. I believe that was the exorcism on a plane episode from the first season. Nice touch. Turns out everyone and everything that Dean did right as a Hunter simply never happened. Everything Papa Winchester did as well. Dean sees the girl again and a vision of bodies hanging in the closet.

Dean visits Papa's grave to try to figure out what to do. Dean knows that Papa would want him to go hunt the Djinn and break out of this alternate reality, but he's angry and wants to know why. Why do they have to sacrifice so much?

Later, Sam catches Dean stealing silver out of Mama's house. Dean comes clean and admits that it's... to pay off a bookie. Dean says some cryptic things and Sam knows that he's about to do something stupid. So Sam insists on coming along. It's a bizarro version of the show, with a super-sensitive Sammy that doesn't understand why he's being called a bitch. He's horrified to find out that Dean has a container of lamb's blood. I'm horrified to find out that a silver knife dipped in lamb's blood kills a creature with godlike powers. After trying to convince Sammy that there really are things out there that go bump in the night, they arrive back at the ruined building where Dean first saw the Djinn. They find bodies and a girl hanging just like in his visions. The Djinn comes in a has a little taste of the girl's blood, convincing Sam that all this is for real. Dean realizes that the girl thinks that she's somewhere else and that he's probably in the exact same position. He probably hung up and all this is just in his head. The Djinn doesn't have the power to change reality at all.

Dean threatens to test the old concept about how if you die in a dream, you wake up. I thought it was that if you die in a dream, you die in real life? Sam tries to convince him that he's losing his mind and that he's going to kill himself. Moments before plunging the knife into himself, Dean's vision brings forth all of Dean's loved ones who one by one try to convince him to enjoy the vision and let go. He'll die in the real world in a matter of days, but it'll feel like a lifetime in this alternate reality. Dean only knows sacrifice, so he plunges the knife in... just in time to wake up to the real life Sammy trying to save him. The Djinn attacks and the boys bring him down, just like old times (well, real times). The girl in Dean's visions inside his vision is still alive (although is she still stuck in her own vision?)

Later, the boys get word that the girl will pull through, and Dean realizes that his imaginary girlfriend was from a beer ad. Dean tells Sammy how the vision wasn't perfect. It was just a wish granted about his mother being alive. It would have changed their whole lives. He wanted to stay in the vision so bad... the jobs cost them so much. They sacrificed so much. Sammy tries to convince him that for the lives that they've saved, it's worth it.

NEXT WEEK: All Hell starts to break loose.