Question about the last couple of SPN episodes

[moonshayde]

I know I haven't posted any thoughts on Smallville and Supernatural last week. Did I? I don't even remember anymore. Anyway...

I do have a question about the episode of Supernatural, though. Spoilers, obviously.



Does Dean remember Hell?

I ask because I'm not sure what we're supposed to think. That might be the point. In Yellow Fever, hallucination!Lilith said that he remembered ever bit of it. In It's the Great Punpkin, Sam Winchester Uriel tells Sam to ask Dean what he remembers of Hell.

We've seen flashes of Dean remembering something in several episodes. (Btw, kudos for making the flashbacks weird and abstract and creepy without revealing anything. The screams last episode were a nice touch.)

But if Dean truly remembers everything, how can he act so much like Dean? Even if he's acting the part, wouldn't we seem him off in his private moments? I haven't picked up anything overly weird about Dean this season, except maybe a couple of brief debatable moments, but I could be missing something. I am not always that observant.

Or does he subconsciously remember Hell and only fragments are coming through. I always thought it was this option, but based on the above episodes, I am not so sure.

What are your thoughts? Am I failing to make a connection?

Comments

[blpurdom.livejournal.com]

I also think it's simple repression, but I'm not convinced that Castiel has anything to do with it. That's just how the human brain works, but it also often becomes difficult to repress really traumatic experiences completely, so they start seeping out in unexpected ways, or you get side-effects of the repression, like split-personality disorder. (One personality remembers the trauma, one doesn't, and the one that doesn't fights to stay in control.)

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

The Castiel spec was new to me, but I suppose it is a possibility. I am swaying more towards Dean repressing them himself as a normal human reaction and that the memories are slowly breaking through.

I guess we'll see what happens! It's exciting :)