13x08: Deconstructing Dean
Meredith Glynn gave us Dean Winchester being judgmental as all hell towards this weirdo girl, only for him to see that they have stuff in common and leaving the judgment in order to try and gently guide her, questioning her choices, learning those choices - to her - are non-existent, and giving her the opportunity to see that there is always a choice, a chance, and enabling her to free herself from the demon controlling her.
Look at it this way: we get Dean confronted by a representative of his non-performing side and he judges her and resists relating with her until he realises that’s not working at all, ending up ensuring that she’s freed from the toxic masculinity representative that’s keeping her under his thumb.
It’s oh-so-intriguing that, so very often, the representative of Dean’s non-performing side is a woman.
I cannot believe we got Dean Winchester taking a leap of faith by shoving his hand into an unknown contraption - letting go of his need for control for at least a moment (Jensen Ackles is fucking amazing!!) - and by the end of the episode telling this girl, representing his non-performing side, that “you look out for you”.
Something Dean has always been incapable of doing.
Because of all of his long history with taking responsibility for everything. Tied to his need for control. Tied to his idealising toxic masculinity as a means of survival. The toxic masculinity that keeps getting slaughtered this season.
*clasps hands to mouth with a sigh of bliss*
