So now, when Dean is faced with the same sort of save-the-world-by-damning-yourself option, fans don’t have the luxury of saying oh, that will never happen. Maybe it will, and it will rip our hearts out just as much as the previous nightmare scenarios did.
There are many other high-stakes moments that play out on the show, including the threat of losing someone else the Winchesters care about and consider family – Mary, Bobby, Castiel, Jack, Kevin, Charlie. We are well aware that these losses may actually happen too, because they have happened, and that adds to the constant tension. But it is the anticipation and dread of an unthinkable sacrifice we know is coming which really pulls us in emotionally as fans. Those high stakes scenarios are reason number one that this show keeps going. That’s where we were as last week’s episode began, primed for heartbreak.
Supernatural does not disappoint. Without even a moment to get our bearings, as the episode begins we’re in the Ma’lak box with Dean on the bottom of the ocean. The camera stays close on his face as he struggles to stay calm in impossible circumstances. We hear the creak of the box, see the first drips coming through, and we know that it won’t be long. Jensen Ackles shows us Dean knowing the same thing, vividly portraying the moment that panic overwhelms Dean and he starts to fight desperately to get out, pounding on the box, nails scratched bloody, screaming for his brother to come save him.