I don’t think I was alone in experiencing some trepidation in anticipation of Supernatural’s most recent episode, “About A Boy.” The episode was written by Adam Glass and directed by long-time cinematographer for the show Serge Ledouceur. The episode makes use of the popular fan fiction trope of “de-aging” one of the brothers – in this case Dean (Jensen Ackles). I’ll have to admit that I haven’t been a huge fan of Ledouceur’s direction in the past either. However, I am happy to eat crow in this instance and admit that this is one of the best episodes of the show in a long time – and that’s what I’m hearing from many fans. Glass and Ledouceur both did the show and the fans proud.
Why was this such a successful episode? I was scratching my head over this, and I’ve come to the conclusion that three main things contributed to the episode’s success. Firstly, where do I put in an Emmy nomination for Dylan Everett (Teen!Dean)? This kid knocked it out of the park and scored a grand slam! I simply can’t say enough about Everett’s performance. It’s clear that he researched Ackles’ portrayal extensively to deliver a flawless teen version. And he also delivers a rich, layered performance on top of that. Just wow. And more please!
The second thing that really contributed to the success of the episode was the dialogue – which is going to tie in to my third point. I never do this – but check the end of the article for some of my favorite lines (I’ll try not to simply write out the entire script).
The third thing that contributed to this being an amazing episode, I think flows directly from the writers seeming obsession with all things fan fiction. In the past, I’ve criticized them for seemingly drawing on those fan fiction tropes, but I think the benefit to them reading fan fiction, is that it may have lead them straight back to what we actually love about the show. At its HEART, this show is about two brothers and the love they have for each other. The show is infinitely better when the brothers are united. Yes, they get annoyed at each other, but at the end of the day, they are there for each other, and that shows in the banter between the two. When was the last time we saw them actually enjoying each other’s company? So the third thing is simply that relationship between the two brothers that comes through so strongly in this episode – from the Easter bunny comment from Dean to Sam (Jared Padalecki) scoring a point with the underoos comment.
The episode begins with the usual tease for the monster-of-the-week. The action then shifts to the bunker and Dean researching. Scattered amongst his research on Cain, the mark, scar and tattoo removal, are the remains of fast food, so we see that he’s started to weaken in his healthy living resolve. He’s interrupted when Sam comes to the door with a case. We learn that Dean hasn’t left the bunker for a week. Ackles and Padalecki are terrific in this scene. Dean doesn’t trust himself, and despite Charlie (Felicia Day) forgiving him for beating her and breaking her arm, he hasn’t forgiven himself.
Sam tell him to forgive himself and points out that locking himself in his room isn’t helping him. Sam tells him, “You need to get back in the game for your own good. You can beat this, Dean.” Dean responds with, “You really believe that?” Same tells him, “damn right I believe that.” It’s been a long time since we’ve seen Sam place his faith in his big brother, and apparently it’s exactly what Dean needed to hear. However, in typical Dean fashion, he breaks the borderline chick-flick moment by teasing Sam about believing in the Easter bunny until he was 12. Sam says he didn’t – in pouty, little brother mode, and then admits he was 11. It’s hilarious, and again, exactly what Sam knows Dean needs.
The brothers question the one witness – a homeless guy (Christiaan Westerveld) and seem to be getting somewhere until he claims it was aliens – at which point Dean and Sam virtually run away with him before he can describe his own “probing!” I loved that the brothers deduce from the “alien” clue that it could be fairies – as the aliens turned out to be in “Clap Your Hands If You Believe…” Sam then suggests that they split up with one checking out the victim’s house and one checking out the bar. Dean hesitates and Sam immediately suggests that they can stick together. In typical Dean fashion, not wanting to appear weak, he tells Sam it’s fine, after all a dive-bar is his comfort zone, right?
Once inside, Dean strays further from his healthy lifestyle. He mutters under his breath, “Screw it. I’m gonna believe in myself.” And then he orders a whiskey. Sam’s already told Dean that he can’t beat the Mark by being something he’s not, that he needs to believe in himself and believe that he’s strong enough. However, once he takes the drink, we see the Mark wake up a little bit.
Dean gets no information from the bartender (Nels Lennarson), except that JP (Jason Wingham) was a lowlife who likely had it coming, but then Tina (Kehli O’Bryne) tells Dean JP wasn’t all that bad. Of course, she also points out that if “you’re in here getting stunned while the sun’s still up,” your life is probably pretty screwed up, and then they proceed to have a few drinks together. It seems the two have something in common: a crappy motel and crappy childhoods. It’s always fun to hear stories from the brothers’ past, and Dean is clearly enjoying telling her that he learned 101 ways to make macaroni and cheese. He even tells her that Sammy thought making it with marshmallow fluff was exotic!
Tina excuses herself before Dean can get any ideas about falling off the celibacy-wagon – though he clearly considers simply going after her and not answering Sam’s call. The call itself is also a nice touchstone. Sam tells Dean that JP was a terrible tenant and that his landlord said his bathroom looked like the Devil’s butt. Sam says he saw it and it wasn’t pretty. Dean then actually makes a joke out of which Sam had seen. They are finally far enough past Sam’s time in Hell to make a joke out of it.
While on the phone, Dean sees Tina leave, followed by Hansel (Mark Acheson), which makes him suspicious enough to follow, and they both get hexed. If Acheson looked familiar, it’s because he also played the Toothfairy in “I Believe the Children Are Our Future.”
I loved the scene in which Dean wakes up in the basement. It’s beautifully shot as we see only a close up on his eyes. We don’t see what’s happened to him, and he doesn’t fully understand it himself until he finds a mirror and wipes away the dirt. It’s heavily symbolic of wiping away the dirt of his existence, the time that has passed since he was an innocent (or more innocent, anyway!).
It also parallels beautifully with Dean once again looking in his shattered mirror in his room at the beginning of the episode. Even if Ladouceur hadn’t gotten amazing performances and shot such a well-paced episode, this scene alone makes this a terrific episode.
I loved that Teen!Dean is immediately on the job. And Everett inhabits Dean immediately and completely right from the initial “Son of a bitch.” He immediately comforts an understandably freaking out Teen!Tina (Madeleine Arthur). She wonders how he stays so calm, and he tells her “Practice.” There’s a nice moment when Dean figures out that the other kid is Teen!JP (Braydon Brown) and we see a smile flit across Dean’s face. He’s at least found the initial victim. Tina is particularly impressed because she’d written Dean off “as just another drunk.” Dean glibly responds that he prefers “functional alcoholic.” In case we were worried he’s not aware that he has a problem. For me, this also highlighted a change in the series that is a result of it having been on for 10 years now. In season one, it was ok for Dean to go out to a bar and party, getting drunk and picking up women – see “Hook Man” in season one. It paints a different picture now that Dean is in his mid-thirties. However, there is more to Dean than Tina first thought, even at 14. Chivalrous Dean doesn’t want to leave Tina, but she convinces him their best bet is him going for help.
It’s hilarious when we see the tension ramped up as something is shoved under their doors only to be revealed as birthday cake! And it’s perfect that Dean would absolutely not be able to resist it – not with that amount of disgusting sugary icing! And then Tina points out that it’s likely poisoned. Funny where one of them is more child-like than the other – Dean remains calm, but Tina has the foresight and will power to be wary of and resist the cake.
Meanwhile, Sam shows up at the bar, knowing Dean is in trouble. He catches the bartender with Dean’s phone. I loved Sam just nonchalantly whacking the guy’s head on the bar. It’s not often we get to see Sam be the physical one, and it’s worth remembering that Padalecki is a big guy, making Sam intimidating physically. He finds Dean’s gun and shoe – a nice touch back to Dean’s line about finding JP’s Florshiem’s to the homeless guy. Sam then demonstrates his other strength by identifying the flowery smell as yarrow, leading him to determine they are dealing with a witch.
It’s hard to choose a best scene in this episode, but Dean arriving back at the hotel is right up there. Sam may be gob-smacked, but he immediately recognizes his brother. I loved Dean arriving with “Hiya, Sammy,” and then just bursting into the room all motion as he gets armed up to go back for Tina. My notes for this scene were peppered with “SAM’S FACE” as he just stares at his now teenaged brother. Dean doesn’t want to stop and talk because he neither knows nor cares how he ended up like that – he simply needs to save the girl. He tells Sam, “You wanted me back in the game. I’m back in the damn game.”
As Dean leaves the room, he sees a woman at the next room drop her keys, so he picks them up for her – complete with a “Ma’am”, prompting her to remark to Sam that his “son is so polite.” Well, there’s a family resemblance, right? For those of you familiar with fan fiction, this is generally how they cover for Sam travelling with a teenage (or younger) boy. It’s an interesting juxtaposition to the father role that Dean has played for Sam, especially when they were growing up – something we’re nicely reminded of by the conversation about mac and cheese. It's a funny moment because if you know Dean, you know he's hardly polite, but it's also a sobering moment for same because what if Dean doesn't change back?
It’s a fabulous sight gag to see Sam with his knees jammed between his face and the dashboard when Teen!Dean tries to take the wheel. Sam estimates that Dean is about 14, but Everett looks even less like 14 than he did in “Bad Boys,” but the age is funnier as it puts Dean right at the worst part of puberty. Sam asks how “it” feels, and Dean’s description of puberty, including his shameful admission to liking a Taylor Swift song is hilarious: “My voice is weird, and I’ve got like nine zits, and I have zero control over this. It’s up, it’s down, it’s up for no reason…” Ah, show, you’re awesome when you’re risqué!
Of course, the discussion of how Dean’s feeling leads Dean to reveal that he no longer has the Mark. Sam is shocked when Dean suggests not reversing the spell, but we get a rare opportunity to see how Dean feels. Being younger, perhaps his defenses aren’t as fully in place, but I suspect that Dean is generally reticent about asking for or wishing for things that aren’t right in front of him. He tells Sam, “If it’s a choice between being a psyco-rage monster slash borderline demon or a teenager?” It gives us a good glimpse of how he’s feeling and what he’s afraid of. He goes on to tell Sam, “I’m not a fan either, but, Sam, this is problem solved. And I’m still me. I can still hunt. I’m just… dewier.” Dean then goes on to point out the good news of his having a “virgin” liver! The serious moment is once again relieved by humor as Sam twits him about not being able to drink (legally!) for another seven years!
The next scene is also hilarious as Sam tells Dean he’s too big to fit in the basement window (see below under favorite lines…). This light moment is juxtaposed with Dean alone in the dark, finding a skull. Another shout out to Dylan Everett’s careful mirroring of how to hold both gun and flashlight. Finally we see the monster revealed as Hansel of Hansel and Gretel fame. Sam clarifies the Hansel and Gretel of the story by the Brothers Grimm, but Hansel clarifies that they gave the story a happy ending – Hansel and Gretel shove the witch in the oven – as Dean does here. According to this Hansel, the witch forced him to eat his sister’s heart. Of course, he’s lying when he tells them he wants to help them – he’s not working for the witch, he’s working with her.
The other casting coup for this episode is, of course, the witch who is played by Lesley Nicol – who also plays that other famous cook, Mrs Patmore on Downton Abbey. She clearly relishes the part! We learn that due to Amber Alerts, milk cartons, and so forth, stealing children to eat has become a risky business, so she’s turned to de-aging people that society won’t miss. I loved this scene as we see Dean distract the witch with his banter while Sam gets his pocket knife out and gets himself free. I also loved the little commentary on the difference in taste between Europeans and Americans with Europeans being “gamier” and Americans being “fattier” and “almost buttery.” I also love Nicol’s utterly matter-of-fact delivery, especially when Dean declares she’s a tourist. She replies that she’s actually there on business. The Grand Coven has sent her after Rowena (Ruth Connell).
We’ve seen that witchcraft was able to remove the Mark by de-aging Dean, so I have to wonder if witchcraft could do it in some other way as well. This could lead to a deal with either the Grand Coven or Rowena to cure Dean – either protecting Rowena or giving her up.
The final fight scene results in Dean deciding in the heat of the moment to change back so that he can save everyone – except, of course, himself. I have to admit some real disappointment as Ackles once again replaces Everett – I wanted more 14 year old Dean! I really didn’t understand why he had to shove the hex bag into the witch’s mouth before shoving her into the oven, but it could be explained by him needing to keep her from casting another spell. After all, she uses a spell to knock the bottle out of Dean’s hand and to fling Sam across the room.
The end result is that Tina can’t be changed back. Interestingly, just like Dean, she is actually eager to embrace this second chance. And who wouldn’t want to get back 20 years, to know then, what you know now? I did, once again, have a bit of a problem with simply dropping a now 14 year old girl at a bus station with a handful of cash. How exactly is she going to get by? Hopefully, they at least set her up with some fake ID! Clearly, she does still have an adult brain, so she’s likely safer than Claire.
The final scene between Dean and Sam is fantastic and Ackles and Padalecki knock it out of the park. Again, here we have the brothers united, working toward a common goal, and clearly demonstrating their filial bond. Sam asks if the Mark is back, and Dean says he had to do it. Sam was in danger and regardless of how much time has passed, protecting Sam is still Dean’s prime directive.
Sam says, “I know. You saved me and saved Tina and pulled a Dean Winchester. Thank you.” Sam goes on to once again affirm his belief in his brother: “Do I wish the Mark was gone? Yes. But I wanted you back. And her you are and you didn’t Hulk out. We’ll figure it out. We always do.” And Dean replies, “”Damn right” because even when he can’t believe in himself, he can believe in Sam and find the strength in that to carry on.
And then… Dean climbs into Baby and turns on… Taylor Swift! Now, this is a really funny scene. Dean looks sheepish and Sam looks shocked, but Dean doesn’t change the station. Instead, he looks happy – being 14 even for a little while, letting Sam be the strong one, the adult has shook things up and given Dean a new perspective. However, if the show can afford a current, chart-topping song from Taylor Swift, where is all our classic rock?!?!?!? Their “we can’t afford it” is never going to be an excuse ever again!
Here are some of my favorite lines from the episode:
“I got three hots and a cot.” How much did this sound like something John used to say?
“You also believed in the Easter bunny until you were 12.”
“Wheels just came flying off the bus.”
“You’re in here getting stunned while the sun’s still up? You’re life’s a regular Charlie Foxtrot.”
“I’m a friggin’ tween and you look like some One Direction reject.”
“Scar-faced looking guy, bright light, I wake up looking like Bieber.”
“I got no grass on the infield and a girl’s gonna die. Sorry if I’m not in a chatty mood.”
“We’ll get you changed back and then light up Sabrina’s ass.”
“We get to barbecue a celebrity!”
“If you’re going to fry that candy-coated bitch, I want in.”
“You filet one rugrat and people get so angry!”
Sam: Dean, I’m way too big to fit in that.
Dean: First time you ever had to say that, huh?
Sam: Big talk coming from the dude wearing underoos!
Dean: … Good one.
What did you think of the episode? Did you think Dylan Everett did a good job as Dean? Would you like to see more of him? Do you think witchcraft could prove to be a solution for the Mark? Did I miss any of your favorite lines? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
About the Author - Lisa Macklem
I do interviews and write articles for the site in addition to reviewing a number of shows, including Supernatural, Arrow, Agents of Shield, The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, Forever, Defiance, Bitten, Glee, and a few others! Highlights of this past year include covering San Diego Comic Con as press and a set visit to Bitten. When I'm not writing about television shows, I'm often writing about entertainment and media law in my capacity as a legal scholar. I also work in theatre when the opportunity arises. I'm an avid runner and rider, currently training in dressage.
