About a Boy is probably one of the most entertaining episodes of the series so far. It’s always risky venturing into fairytales and fables when it comes to Supernatural but this week it paid off tenfold.
Dylan Everett returned to play Teenage Dean and was impressive to watch. His performance perfectly captured the physical and vocal mannerisms of Jensen Ackles’ Dean and his onscreen chemistry with Jared Padalecki ensured that the brothers still felt like themselves, even with Dean’s changed form. When Everett first appeared in Season Nine’s Bad Boys it was reported that he had watched five seasons of Supernatural in a week to prepare for the role. While he was enjoyable to watch on his first outing it’s easy to see how this preparation helped his performance really shine this time around. It’s a shame he can’t stick around for further episodes.
Although a classic Monster of the Week episode, this week began by reminding us of Dean’s struggle with the Mark of Cain. It was a smart move that allowed the show to gradually inch forward with its main storyline while still having fun with Hansel and Gretel. It was a nice complication to find that the Mark no longer existed when Dean was in his teenage body, and allowed us to genuinely consider whether returning Dean to his normal form would actually be a good thing. This is Supernatural, of course, and we were always going to have Ackles return by the end of the episode, but it raised the possibility that magic may provide them with a way out of the Mark.
If the show has taught us anything it’s that Sam and Dean will always sacrifice themselves to save others. Here, Dean gave up his teenage form and freedom from the Mark to save Tina and Sam. While it wasn’t obvious exactly why Dean failed to be a bit more careful when it came to the hex bag, Tina was surprisingly relaxed about sticking in her teenage body. Her parting words about second chances and starting over were enough to make us feel the weight of Dean’s sacrifice, but also remind us that Dean still has a second chance. Whether that comes from removing the Mark or coming to terms with it, only time will tell.
While this season has been surprisingly good when it comes to passing the Bechdel Test, this week it didn’t manage to pass. Considering Supernatural’s well-documented issue with women it’s almost a surprise that it wasn’t until the twelfth episode that two female characters failed to speak to each other (admittedly, Gretel spoke to Tina but, considering Tina was gagged and couldn’t respond, I’m pretty certain it doesn’t count.) Hopefully future episodes will correct this.
Ultimately it was a well-written, hugely enjoyable episode that undoubtedly spawned the creation of a thousand Teen Dean fanfics. The inclusion of Taylor Swift’s Shake It Off at the end of About a Boy, along with Dean’s smirk of enjoyment, was just the cherry on top of the cake for this fabulous episode. More, please.