12.11 Regarding Dean
Title | Regarding Dean |
Episode # | Season 12, Episode 11 |
First aired | February 9, 2017 |
Directed by | John Badham |
Written by | Meredith Glynn |
On IMDB | Regarding Dean |
Outline | When Dean is hexed and begins to lose his memory, Sam seeks help from Rowena in reversing the spell before Dean is killed by it. |
Monster | Witches |
Timeline | |
Location(s) | Eureka Springs, Arkansas |
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Contents
Synopsis
Sam and Dean are working on the case of an accountant, Barry. Dean is chasing a man, who has been shot, through the woods at night. When he catches up to the man, he is leaning against a tree that he has marked with a glyph. As Dean aims his gun at the man, the glyph glows brightly and Dean is knocked unconscious. He awakens on the forest floor the next morning, disoriented and unclear on what happened the night before. He calls Sam to meet him for breakfast. As they discuss the case they are working, Dean needs to be reminded of several facts, leading the boys to believe he was hungover after a hard night of drinking. As they leave the restaurant, a woman approaches Dean and says hello. Dean asks her who she is and she answers him with a slap to the face.
As Sam and Dean carry on working on the case, Dean continues to forget small things like words and which key to use to start the Impala. They realize there's a problem when Sam says, "Dean!" and Dean replies, "Who's Dean?".
Back at the hotel, Sam and Dean figure that the witch in the area must have gotten to Dean. Sam covers the room in Post-it notes to help Dean remember the names of everything, and then Sam calls Rowena for help. She advises that there is a spell that can cause someone to lose their memory over time, gradually losing everything about themselves until they die. The only way to break the spell is to kill the witch that cast it. Easy, except that Dean can't remember what he did 10 minutes ago.
Sam and Dean return to Barry's office to see if they can trace Dean's steps from the day before. As they begin to piece together Dean's actions of the previous day, Sam and Dean enter a burger bar and see the woman who slapped him in the waffle house. From her they find out that Dean rode a mechanical bull, stood her up after they planned to meet, and ran out of the bar into the back alley. From a surveillance camera they learn that Dean followed a man into the alley; the man was a witch and Dean shot him. They continue out into the woods behind the bar and find the witch's body and the glyph carved into the tree. Meanwhile, Dean's memory fades even more.
Rowena joins Sam and Dean back at the hotel. She tells them that the glyph is used by a family of very powerful witches—Gideon, Boyd, and Catriona Loughlin, who possess a 'black grimoire', a book of Druid magic. They determine that Gideon was the witch killed in the woods. With Gideon already dead, they will need the book to break the spell. Sam accuses Rowena of only wanting to help them in order to get her hands on the spell book. She concedes it's true, but also would like to have a Winchester "owe her one".
Sam goes to the Loughlins' house to get them to translate the text from the grimoire so Rowena can cast the spell. He calls Rowena when he gains entry into the house and keeps the line open so she can hear the translation in real time. However, Sam is overpowered by Boyd and Katrina, who plan to steal his soul to bring their brother, Gideon, back. Hearing this, Rowena goes to the Loughlins'. She leaves Dean in the car with a note to 'Stay'. After a while, Dean goes to the trunk of the Impala and sees a note on the weapons cover saying 'open me'. He does and sees the weapons cache marked with several Post-it notes, including 'NO' on the grenade launcher, and 'witch-killing bullets' and 'this gun' on the respective items.
Inside the house, Rowena is pinned to the wall by Catriona; Sam has broken free upstairs and is fighting with Boyd. Dean comes into the house and points a gun at Catriona. She mocks him for thinking a regular gun could kill her. He holds up the Post-it that says 'witch-killing bullets' and shoots her dead.
Meanwhile, Sam and Boyd's fight leads them out of the upstairs rooms and onto the staircase above the room where Rowena and Dean are standing. Dean points his gun at Boyd, then Sam, then back again. Sam yells, 'No! No! Brother' (pointing to himself) and 'Witch' (pointing to Boyd). Dean hesitates a second and shoots Boyd. With the witches dead, Rowena performs the spell and restores Dean's memory. Sam concedes to Rowena that they owe her "a small one".
Characters
Definitions
Music
- "Like It's Going Out of Style" by Frank JR Zaruba (De Wolfe Music Library)
- playing as Sam and Dean enter the bar to retrace Dean's steps
- "It's All Good Lovin' to Me" by Sleestak (Black Toast Music)
- (playing in the bar as Sam and Dean review surveillance footage)
- "Raggedy Ann" by Tirra Dent
- (sung by Catriona as she is torturing Rowena)
- "Broomstick Cowboy" by Bobby Goldsboro
- (plays over the ending montage)
Quotes
Rowena: Maybe he's just drunk. Oi!
Sam: Ha. See, now that's comedy.
Sam: You can't read lips.
Rowena: Oh, of course I could, but witchcraft this complex would take time, more than Dean's got. He's already begun to forget himself, everyone he's ever known, ever loved. Even you. Soon, he'll forget how to speak, how to swallow, and then... Dean Winchester's going to die.
Sam: Not funny.
Dean: Of what? The curse that nearly killed me?
Sam: No, just, you know... Some of the things we've done, we've had this weight for... Forever. And seeing it gone, uh, you looked happy.
Trivia & References
- The Rat Pack was a group of actors that consisted of Frank Sinatra, Joey Bishop, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., and Peter Lawford. They appeared in several movies together.
- "Mo Money, Mo Problems" is a 1997 song by The Notorious B.I.G.
- Guantanamo Naval Base, usually shortened to Guantanamo or Guantanamo Bay, contains a military prison that infamously tortures its prisoners and denies them basic human rights.
Sam: Dory?
Dean: I'm not gonna apologize for loving that fish. Not to you, not to anyone.
- A reference to the Finding Nemo and Finding Dory character of the same name, who had memory issues.
Dean: Okay. Uh, we talkin' circa 1983?
- Bon Jovi is an American rock band that formed in 1983. Its members then were lead singer and guitarist Jon Bon Jovi, guitarist Richie Sambora, keyboard player David Bryan, bassist Alec John Such and drummer Tico Torres. Though Dean has said "Bon Jovi rocks, on occasion" there is no knowing if he would actually have known the line-up.
Sam: I don't know. Uh, and I'm not checking either.
- Memento is a 2000 neo-noir thriller written and directed by Christopher Nolan. In it, Guy Pearce plays Leonard Shelby, who suffers from anterograde amnesia as a result of trauma.
- Bruce Springsteen is a famous American musician, who is known by the nickname "The Boss".
- Netflix is a website or app that a person can watch various TV shows and movies on.
Dean: Um...
Sam: Cinemax?
Dean: Skinemax.
- HBO and Cinemax are American pay cable channels. Cinemax is often jokingly referred to as "Skinemax" due to its penchant for showing softcore porn during the late-night hours. Skinemax HD is a Canadian adult entertainment channel.
Rowena: Excuse me?
- Raggedy Ann is a rag doll character from a series of early 20th-century illustrated children's books.
Minutiae
Sides, Scripts & Transcripts
- 12.11 Regarding Dean (transcript)
- Regarding Dean Script (Blue Draft)