On first viewing I thought the episode was stairless, but when I slowed down, I found that Dean goes down short flights of stairs twice – once when he’s cornered and the cavalry provides cover so he is able to escape the Croats and later at Camp Chitaqua when he escapes the handcuffs and exits the cabin before running into Chuck. Later he climbs another short flight outside Castiel’s cabin o’ enlightened decadence.

Interestingly, Dean finds he’s been handcuffed to a ladder – by his future self. In fact, we get an extended scene there of the two Deans beginning to fill each other in. It’s hard for me to imagine that ladder is fixed into position and not portable. It would be clumsy, but Dean ought to be able to pick it up and take it with him wherever he wants to go. As for getting loose, one would think it easier to simply break the rung rather than  pick the lock. I like the finesse involved in the lock-picking escape method though it seemed odd that he could dig out that nail without tearing up his fingers.  As far as I can tell, Dean never notices anything about the ladder nature of his anchor.

504ladder

(Also, while we’re looking at the oxoniensis cap, please note the angelic light fixture (livejournalist hugemind’s meta) in the scene.)

I, along with many others, presume this future is an angel inspired construct designed to prime Dean to accept Michael. However, Zachariah is not the only one lying to Dean. As future Dean is about to execute his plan to get to Lucifer, our Dean calls his future self out on lying to his friends and to Dean’09.  I think it’s an important step for Dean in realizing that the lies he has been told aren’t all from outside himself.

I don’t think the likely falseness of the scenario means we can dismiss the message of always ending up in the same place. That was the big lesson of 4.03 In the Beginning, right? Since all roads lead to the same destination, even given the opportunity to change things, Dean was unable to “Stop it.” It’s further depressing to note that Lucifer’s ‘here’ is a Sanitarium.

Dean’09 is knocked out twice by Dean’14. We get explicit scenes of him waking up both times. We also are with him as he wakes to Sam’s phone call and then again to find he’s made a time-leap. I’m more convinced than ever that the inclusion of sleep scenes (Dean even begs for the chance to catch four hours) and of explicit dialogue about dreams (Just because it’s a dream doesn’t mean it isn’t real.) is supposed to be noticed and become a factor for the audience.

The real question to my mind is when a viewer (or dreamer) finally draws a line about something presented as real and determines it MUST be a dream/hallucination/hypnotic state/whatever, then doesn’t it become necessary to reevaluate where the real-not!real line actually has been all along? For me, the line drawing happened back with the oh-so-symbolic grace arc (meteors, trees, necklaces, oh my!). It meant I had to back up and both the dick-disease of Yellow Fever and the wishing well of custom-made multiple wishes to not be alone makes sense – though I’m still sad at losing the concreteness of the too perfect protection offered by Bobby’s panic room.

The bridge Dean arranges to meet Sam at is of course the same one the boys met their father at in 1.21 Salvation.  Fandom felt a thrill of recognition at that.  Any bridge would have made me happy, but this particular bridge’s associations with family and common purposes is certainly special. Reminders of John are never unwarranted in my opinion. (I can’t think another character who has been so pivotal with so little actual screen time – in any show ever.) Indeed, the search for that father is what caused Dean to seek out Sam way back in the series Pilot.

Now talking as much about 5.03 Free to Be You and Me as much as The End: I wished Dean’09 had asked future!Castiel about the amulet. (Someone else noticed as well that Dean’14 is no longer wearing his ring. I have to confess to being alert only for glimpses of the thigh holster and forgetting that Dean even has hands.)  The amulet is supposed to burn in the presence of God, right? (I need to rewatch to see just how Castiel put that.) Remember the “God is Love” pamphlet guy at the beginning of the episode?  Dean, when turning down a Sam asking for a chance at redemption, even uses the word “love” to try describing what is between the two of them. I’m prepared to see God’s grace in their bond and can believe Dean is not yet ready to accept it.

Anyway, I wasn’t thrilled with Dean giving the amulet up – nor his having been asked to give it up in the first place. Still, Castiel seems a guardian with Dean’s interests at heart – meaning the relationship embodied by the piece should be a priority he can support. (I came to think that same thing about Ruby, though, so I no longer trust my judgment.)  Part of me believes that Castiel asking for it was because Dean needed to be free of the burden (the crutch?) for a bit without being able to say so. He couldn’t permanently lose or destroy it, but he could entrust it to his angel? Sam, seeing this, would take the hint and offer to back off and separate from a Dean ready to try standing on his own?  I’m betting on a good old-fashioned “Bitch.” “Jerk.” exchange being accompanied by at least a warm-up of the amulet.

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