Supernatural Season 8: My Wishlist for Dean

Yesterday I posted a wishlist for Supernatural season 8 involving Sam and what I hope he accomplishes while Dean is in Purgatory.

I wasn’t actually going to write this particular article now, because I’ve spent time this week talking about why Dean being in Purgatory is different than being in Hell and the lessons I hope he can take from Purgatory. But then some fans thought I was failing to explain potential storylines for Dean. That’s rather inaccurate, but that’s fine. I gave more thought to what I’ve said before and decided to set out an expanded wishlist for Dean. Trust me, folks, writing about Dean is never a hardship for me.

See Purgatory. The first thing I want to see about Purgatory is to actually SEE Purgatory. I completely understand the budgetary concerns that Supernatural has had in the past about showing Hell. A lot of viewers will have their own ideas of what Hell looks like and you probably need to “go big or go home” in order to show that. But Purgatory can look like anything, really. I don’t have a preconceived notion of what that dimension will look like. As someone jokingly mentioned, it looks just like a Canadian forest. Even in LOST, Purgatory actually looked exactly like the world we all know. And if Supernatural can show us Heaven looking rather ordinary with roads, gardens, homes and fields, then Purgatory can be done as well. I think it would be a bit of a fake-out not to show us Purgatory, given the rather stellar cliffhanger the show set up in the season 7 finale. We’ve done the “oh, they’re in another dimension, then they come back without us seeing it” thing before. Spending some time in Purgatory can only be a good thing, because the learning experience for both brothers in this situation make for good storylines.

Death-match in Purgatory. In the Purgatory vs. Hell article, I mentioned that Dean often fails to understand the value of fighting to save himself and generally sticks with hunting out of an obligation to fight for others. Purgatory can be a very good way for Dean to recognize his self-worth. Learning to survive this dimension is a must, especially since Dean is likely alive down there, instead of being dead like he was in Hell. I’ve also mentioned that I would actually like to see Dean surviving it alone. I don’t really want to see Castiel abandon him down there, but if Cas disappeared because he was pulled out of the dimension by unknown forces, I wouldn’t be displeased. There’s a place for the angel in season 8, but learning to survive on his own will be, in my opinion, a very good learning experience for Dean. I want to see the reemergence of the badass hunter that we know Dean is. Dean’s recent apathy (which we discussed in detail in our multi-page review of season 7) doesn’t mean he’s not a strong hunter – because he so clearly still is – but he’s lost a bit of the fire that used to define him. If slaughtering his way through Purgatory is the way to reignite that, then I’m all for it. Besides, Sam can’t help Dean out of Purgatory if Dean isn’t down there fighting to survive. Someone mentioned to me that Dean shouldn’t act like a damsel in distress down in Purgatory. Dean’s never been a damsel in distress a day in his life, so the likelihood of that happening is nil.

Defined Time Period. I definitely want to see Dean explore Purgatory, but I think this can only be done for a certain period of time. I’ll admit that it’s a novel concept to separate the brothers, since they really haven’t been separated for more than 1.95 episodes (“Free to be You and Me” until the end of “The End”). But there’s only so long that can happen before the central relationship of the show gives way to separate storylines. I think two to three episodes is time to establish Dean in Purgatory and give Sam an opportunity to find a solution and open a door to help get him out, since, as far as we know, you can only really open the door from the Earth-side. After that, I’m eager to see the main story arc for the season and see how the boys will deal with that. I don’t think Purgatory can be the main storyline unless Sam travels there as well and I really see no reason why that should happen.

The One Person in Purgatory I Definitely Want To See. I wrote out my thoughts on which people – or beings – Dean could find in Purgatory and I really have one person on my wishlist: Gordon Walker. More than anyone else, this is one deceased character I’d love to see again in this context. Dean and Gordon always had an interesting “relationship”. Gordon went from Dean’s BFF to his enemy in the space of one episode and Gordon became a very formidable enemy to the Winchesters as season 2 progressed. Since he died a vampire, I think he would end up in Purgatory. It would be fascinating for Dean to see a blast from his past that hasn’t resurfaced on the show yet.

The Importance of Relationships. I’ve always felt that Dean has been defined by his relationships, which is why family has always been so consistently important to him. He’s one of those people who doesn’t really do well on his own, which is fine. Humans are generally social creatures, so there’s no shame in that. Lately, however, Dean’s apathy has seemed to affect his relationships. It’s not that he doesn’t still love his brother or Bobby, because he clearly does. I just don’t know if he derives the same satisfaction from his relationships. In some respects, Dean has become a bit of an island…floating by on the conviction of duty and nothing else. It breaks my heart to reconcile the man with the boy we first met in season 1. It’s understandable, because he – and Sam – have suffered so much over the years. But I would like to see Dean really firm up his relationships and derive joy from them again. With a renewed sense of purpose from his time in Purgatory and stronger relationships, I think Dean will be unstoppable.

I wish I could go deeper into my wishlist for Dean in season 8, but until we have a better idea of the overall storyline (which could really go anywhere at this point), then it’s difficult to predict what will happen. Overall, however, I think the writers set up a terrific cliffhanger in the season 7 finale and I think Dean has an opportunity to go through a real transformation down in Purgatory.

Go take a look at our wishlist for Castiel and a discussion on why he and Sam are more similar than you might think.

We’ll be covering Supernatural throughout the summer as new information about season 8 comes in, so make sure to browse and bookmark our Supernatural page.