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Why we can’t expect Dean’s fight or flight defense to completely change on Supernatural

By Alexandria Ingham

Supernatural -- "Jack in the Box" -- Image Number: SN1419a_0049b.jpg -- Pictured: Jensen Ackles as Dean -- Photo: Diyah Pera/The CW -- © 2019 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Supernatural -- "Jack in the Box" -- Image Number: SN1419a_0049b.jpg -- Pictured: Jensen Ackles as Dean -- Photo: Diyah Pera/The CW -- © 2019 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved. /
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Dean Winchester has certainly had some excellent character development over the years on Supernatural. However, we can’t expect everything to change, especially when it comes to his fight or flight defense

Over the last 14 seasons, we’ve watched Dean Winchester grow into the man that he is now. When Supernatural began, he was focused on saving people on individual cases. The world was black and white to him. Monsters were bad and humans deserved to be saved – unless they did things to themselves, like making a deal with a crossroad demon.

We’ve watched Dean become friends with some monsters, realize that family isn’t all about blood, and not accept that hunting is all about revenge. Yet, there are some things that just haven’t changed and we shouldn’t expect them to.

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Asking for his fight or flight defense to change is like asking for his willingness to sacrifice himself for the world to change. It just isn’t going to happen. Like Dean will always put the world first, he’s always going to react first. He’s a shoot-first-ask-questions-later type of guy.

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But shouldn’t that change with everything he’s seen? Well, no, not exactly. The fight or flight defense is something we have little control over in the moment. And I say this from experience.

All the training in the world doesn’t matter. When the adrenaline is pumping, people don’t always think straight. The defense mechanism takes over and this can lead to them doing questionable things. It can also save lives.

Supernatural — “Jack in the Box” — Image Number: SN1419b_0094b.jpg — Pictured (L-R): Jared Padalecki as Sam and Jensen Ackles as Dean — Photo: Diyah Pera/The CW — © 2019 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Supernatural — “Jack in the Box” — Image Number: SN1419b_0094b.jpg — Pictured (L-R): Jared Padalecki as Sam and Jensen Ackles as Dean — Photo: Diyah Pera/The CW — © 2019 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved. /

In “Jack in the Box,” it caused Dean to make a bad decision. Well, at first, it was a good decision. The bad decision came from when he was happy just locking Jack up forever. I do wonder if once the adrenaline and the grief disappeared, we’d have seen Dean make a better choice; that he would have made a decision to look for a way to restore Jack’s soul.

Dean acts in the moment. That’s part of his personality that shouldn’t really change, otherwise, it’s changing who he is. Changing everything little thing and getting rid of this flaw wouldn’t make him realistic. And in a fantasy show, there are specific elements that need to remain realistic to keep a series grounded.

So no, the fight or flight defense in Dean Winchester shouldn’t change. It shouldn’t be about what he does in the moment but the way he reacts afterward, once the danger has lessened and the adrenaline isn’t pumping as much.

Before putting expectations on a character, think about the realities of a situation. Has your fight or flight defense changed? Probably not!

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What did you think about Supernatural Season 14, Episode 19? What do you think about Dean’s development over the years? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Supernatural airs its 14th season finale on Thursday at 8/7c on The CW.

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