Recap – “It’s A Terrible Life”

You can’t have a brotherly tale without the bittersweet, for even in alternate reality their relationship is complex. Dean admits he’s never had so much fun in his life. Sam agrees and wants to keep doing this. ”There’s got to be other ghosts out there, we can help a lot of people.” Dean jokes, “Yeah, we’ll be like the Ghostfacers.” I giggle, thinking “If he only knew!” Sam is serious and Dean finds the idea preposterous. ”You’ve got to be kidding me. How would we get by? Stolen credit cards huh?  Eating in diner food drenched in saturated fats, sharing a crap motel room every night?” 

 

Sam isn’t worried about the details but Dean is. ”You don’t want to go fighting ghosts without any health insurance.” Sam gets all sad. He confesses his dreams had Dean in them. ”We were these like, hunters, and friends”¦more like brothers. I mean, what if that’s who we really are.” Sam questions that maybe a ghost has scrambled their brains. ”What if we think this is our lives, but it isn’t?” Dean denies more, but Sam presses. ”All I know is this isn’t what we’re supposed to be.” Check out this picture. That’s what froze on my screen when I paused the episode on my laptop. Cool, huh?

 

 

Dean sticks with his story. ”I’m Dean Smith, a Director of Sales and Marketing. I went to Stanford, my father’s name is Bob, my mother’s name is Ellen and my sister’s name is Jo.” Sam asks when was the last time he spoke to them, any of them. Dean sees that Sam’s upset. ”Yeah, cause I only moved here because I broke up with my fiancée Madison but I called her number and got a damned animal hospital.” Yep, Sam’s upset.    
 

 

Dean still doesn’t believe the whole fake memories thing, so Sam goes into his pleading, sad puppy dog eyes mode. I love it when he does that. They’re supposed to be something else. ”You’re not just some corporate douchebag, this isn’t you. I know you.” Dean now thinks Sam has crossed a line. ”You don’t know me. You should go.” A crushed Sam, realizing he didn’t get through, leaves Dean’s office. Even in bizarro world they hurt one another emotionally. 

 

Sam’s back to Tech Support the next day, and he looks pretty raw. The phone goes off and suddenly his entire face flares with annoyance. Yep, he’s ready to bust. He calmly takes the headphones off, stands slowly up, grabs the poker and pounds the living crap out of the phone. With each strike his face angrily twists and I make a note to never to get on Sam’s wrong side. The phone crumbles into pieces, the surrounding workers cower in fear, and dust flies off the phone as it’s complete destroyed. Sam throws down the bent poker, looks at everyone’s stunned faces and announces, “I quit.” I’d say that is an effective way to do it.

 

Dean is doing work in his office, but he’s having trouble focusing. Big boss from earlier in the episode comes in, and offers Dean a big bonus in a sly handing of the sticky note across the desk.  Why do bosses do that? I had an entire performance review done that way once. That was a bizarre experience in a long line of bizarre experiences at that place. Anyway, boss sees big things for Dean. ”I see big things in your future, maybe even Senior VP Eastern Great Lakes division. Don’t get me wrong, you’ll have to work for it, seven days a week, lunch at your desk, but in 8-10 short years, that could be you.” 

 

 

Dean’s flattered, but then politely gives his notice. The boss is stunned. Dean tries to explain, stammers over words, and then gets to the point. ”This is not who I’m supposed to be.”  Boss smiles. ”Dean, Dean, Dean, finally.” He puts his two fingers in between Dean’s eyes, and suddenly this bright world goes grey. Dean wonders what he’s wearing, and where he is. ”My God am I hungry.” 

 

The boss welcomes him back, and Dean gets it. ”You’re an angel, aren’t you?” He’s Zachariah. He’s Castiel’s superior, and doesn’t exact like having to pop down into one of these “smelly things.” I see, he doesn’t care for humanity either. After what happened with Uriel, he needed to pay a visit, get his ducks in a row. Dean naturally doesn’t like being one of his ducks, and Zachariah doesn’t like his attitude. Dean doesn’t appreciate the lesson, and calls Zachariah very creative. ”You should see my decoupage.” ”Gross, no thank you,” Dean says. 

 

 

Dean asks if he’s hallucinating all this. No, they’re in a real place, a real haunting, and they were dropped in the middle of it without the benefit of their memories. Dean isn’t pleased. ”Just to shake things up? So you guys could have fun watching us run around like ass clowns in these monkey suits?” Zachariah did this to prove the path Dean’s on is the right one. He’s a hunter, not because his dad made him one or because God called him back from Hell. It’s who he is. ”You’re good at this. You’ll be successful. You will stop it.” Ah yes, the apocalypse. I thought seeing Dean in Corporate America meant the apocalypse happened. 

 

This is where Zachariah throws destiny at Dean, and then gives him the “tough love” talk. ”I know, you’re not strong enough, you’re scared, you’ve got Daddy issues, you can’t do it right?” Dean threatens him. Mr. Cheerful Angel shows more of his love of humanity. ”All I’m saying is it’s how you look at it. Most folks live and die without moving anything more than the dirt it takes to bury them. You get to change things. Save people. Maybe even the world. All the while you drive a classic car and fornicate with women. This isn’t a curse, it’s a gift! So for God’s sake, Dean, quit whining about it! Look around. There are plenty of fates worse than yours. So are you with me? You wanna go steam yourself another latte? Or are you ready to stand up — and be who you really are?” Please remind me not to hire this guy as a motivational speaker. Dean stares at him, letting it all sink in, and the screen goes dark.

 

Okay, before any of you Sam fans go off, saying “What about Sam?” please remember this is only a 42 minute show, and tons of stuff was packed into this one. That actually seems to be the norm lately. So, here’s a great fanfic, one that fills in the blanks. If there are others, let me know! 

It’s obvious this episode was a chance to give both Sam and Dean a break in the action, a chance for soul searching and to evaluate who they are. It’s interesting how Sam was included in these plans, and we have to wonder if the angels see the need for Sam to help Dean. Apparently both of them are vital to the mission.

 

All in all, a nice break. Now I’m ready for more hard core angst.