I’ve been having some in-depth discussions today on what to expect from demon!dean in the upcoming season. We all seemed to come to the conclusion that dream!dean from Dream A Little Dream Of Me may very well be a referencing point for this new bout of characterization for Dean.
Watching his descent in season nine, the closer Dean came to succumbing to the darkness within, the more his characterization became a reflection of John Winchester. Season ten will see Dean rise into a new life given to him by a new master. A new life for a soul that has been twisted by forty years in Hell and thirty-five years of living as a broken shell of what his father wanted him to be. Dean’s destiny was the path to Hell - he was always meant to become the mirror image of himself that came to him in a dream. Dream!dean was his worst nightmare - the personification of his darkness, of his fears, of his insecurities. Dream!dean was the opposite of everything John Winchester wanted Dean to be and the part that he tried to play for the majority of his life.
What are the things that you want? What are the things that you dream? I mean, your car? That’s Dad’s. Your favorite leather jacket? Dad’s. Your music? Dad’s. Do you even have an original thought?
As a newly born demon, Dean’s first task will be to establish a new identity for himself - one that is the polar opposite of what he was in his human life. He is going to have to shed the layers that made up his humanity- his car, his clothes, his music, everything that defined Dean Winchester, the Righteous Man.
The shift will begin with abandoning the Impala for a more sensible car - a Prius most likely, because the demons still yearn to inherit the Earth one day. Next, he must shed the trademark jackets, boots, and plaid, traded out for skinny jeans, converse, and sweater vests. The music is most important, though. Music sings the song of Dean’s soul, and where classic rock shook him loose in the past, hip-hop will become the soundtrack of his new life.
I have this particular vision of Dean: obliterating the staff of a Starbucks after they make his Chai Tea Latte with too much milk and not enough awesome, slicing through the mainstream societal conventions that bound him in his previous life, all to the tune of Everyday I’m Hustlin’, blaring through the Beats by Dre headphones around his neck.
Dean Winchester - destined to fall back into the Pit, destined to become everything that he loathes. Destined to break the chains of the mainstream traditions he was raised in and conform to the new subculture of ideals that, before, were considered abhorrent.
And there will be glasses.
