Recap / Supernatural S 02 E 20 What Is And What Should Never Be

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Get some rest. I love you.

"You kidding? I'd love to mow the lawn."

— Dean

Written by Raelle Tucker.

Directed by Eric Kripke.

Airdate: May 3, 2007.

Dean finds out what it would mean to have his deepest wish granted while hunting a djinn in Joliet, Illinois.

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Dean is driving the Impala with a new Ohio license plate trying to search the 50 miles of real estate where victims have been disappearing. Sam calls Dean's cell from their motel to let Dean know that a police car is outside their motel. This turns out to be a false alarm, and the police car leaves without incident. However, Sam updates Dean on his research. Sam is convinced they are hunting a djinn, or genie, which typically lives in ruins. Dean wants to check out a location he passed, which he thinks could be the djinn's lair. Sam suggests Dean pick him up so they can investigate together, but Dean says he will just look around and pulls up to an abandoned warehouse. The djinn watches Dean who searches an old office holding a flashlight and a knife with a blood coated blade. When Dean starts to walk down a hallway, the djinn slams Dean against the wall, knocking the knife out of Dean's hand, and chokes Dean with his right hand. The djinn then lifts his left hand which glows blue as do his eyes. The djinn places his left hand on Dean's forehead, and Dean's eyes roll back and are covered in a gray film.

The Teaser ends with a metal chomping sound, and the Title Sequence plays in a burst of flames.

Dean wakes to a world where he's living with Carmen Porter, his nurse girlfriend in Lawrence, Kansas. He soon realizes his mom, Mary Winchester, is alive, and neither he nor Sam grew up as hunters. Their father, John Winchester, is still dead, but he died peacefully in his sleep from a stroke. Sam is in law school at Stanford, but he flies home with Jessica Moore to celebrate Mary Winchester's birthday. At the birthday dinner, Sam and Jessica announce their engagement. Everything seems great, until he realizes that all the people they saved are now dead. And, on top of that, he and Sam are no longer close—they never were, thanks to Wishverse!Dean's escapades with Sam's old girlfriend and his absence at Sam's graduation, among other things. And he keeps seeing a girl dressed in white who appears and disappears.

Dean sets out to kill the djinn, and Wishverse!Sam joins him, refusing to leave. Unable to find it, he decides to attempt suicide, thinking that Real!Dean will wake up when he does, since that's what happens in dreams. The other Wishverse family members, Carmen, Jessica, and Mary, appear and try to convince Dean not to do it. They say that even though this may not be reality, he'll be able to live a long life, see Sam grow old, and have all his greatest wishes—his mom alive, a great girlfriend, etc. But Dean plunges a knife into his stomach anyway.

He wakes up bound and tied and hooked to an IV, which the djinn had been using to drink his blood. Real!Sam is shaking him, trying to get him to wake up. He begins to cut Dean's ropes, but the djinn appears and attacks him. Dean rips free just in time to save Sam, and the siblings rescue one of the other victims—the girl Dean kept seeing in the dream—before heading back to their hotel.

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Tropes appearing in this episode:

• Abandoned Warehouse: The lair of the djinn. Inside are file cabinets, chairs, and desks. There are old typewriters, lamps, files, and a fan among pieces of plumbing on the desks.
• Absurdly Sharp Blade: Dean commits seppuku with a silver dinner knife.
• Adventures in Comaland: The djinn induces a dream-like state in Dean while Dean's unconscious body is drained of blood.
  Dean: What if I'm like her? What if I'm tied up in here some place? What if all this is in my head?
• Affectionate Gesture to the Head: Wishverse!Mary strokes Dean's face and kisses him on the forehead.
• Affectionate Nickname:
  • Dean refers to the Impala as "Baby". He previously used this term of endearment for his car in "Bloodlust" and "Simon Said".
  Dean: [opens the trunk of Wishverse!Impala] Well, who'd'a thought, baby. We're civilians.
  • Dean calls Wishverse!Sam "Sammy" on six different occasions in this episode and uses this nickname another two times when talking about real life Sam at his father's grave.
• The Alcoholic: Wishverse!Dean is subtly implied to be this. Every family member asks if Dean is drunk or wants a beer and acts as if this is normal.
• All Girls Want Bad Boys: At least, this is Dean's view.
  Sam: Yeah, being fugitives? Freaking dance party.
  Dean: Hey man, chicks dig the danger vibe.
• All Just a Dream: The Djinn has Dean stuck having a dream where he lives a normal life with his ideal girlfriend, Sam is in law school and engaged to Jessica (who didn't die), and his mother is still alive.
• Aloof Dark-Haired Girl: Carmen's dark hair and pale skin as well as her knowing and mature attitude are reminiscent of Tessa from "In My Time of Dying". The fact that Dean's dream woman resembles his Reaper has some unsettling implications.
• Alternate Self: We see the Wishverse versions of Mary, Jessica, and Sam, and gain an understanding of what Dean and John were like in the Wishverse. We also see the Wishverse!Impala with a Kansas license plate that reads RMD 5H2.
• Artistic License – Medicine: When we see a closeup of the line being used to drain blood from Dean's neck, the line appears to be subcutaneous, in a piece of skin bulging oddly from the side of Dean's neck and not in a blood vessel (certainly not in the probable intended site of the internal jugular vein). In addition, the line is not secured in any way, no stitches, tape, or bandage. There is also no blood actually in the line which appears clear, while the connector and IV tubing connected to the line are filled with red liquid. Finally, when Sam removes the line, he does not apply pressure to the puncture site.
• Ascended Fridge Horror: All the people Dean and Sam saved would have died if they hadn't been there.
• Back from the Dead: Mary Winchester and Jessica Moore are both alive in the Wishverse.
• Badass Bookworm: Sam has at least 5 large tomes he is reviewing on Djinn, which include detailed full page illustrations. One of the illustrations shows a bearded creature with 4 arms holding a sword. There is also a drawing of a 3 toed imp who is not wearing anything but an earring and an anklet and is covered in notes in Arabic. The third picture shows a figure with bulging eyes, pointed nose, and large sharp fangs.
• Bad Liar:
  • Dean when Wishverse!Sam catches him with their mother's silver.
  Dean: I was looking for a beer.
  Wishverse!Sam: In the china cabinet?
  • Subverted when Dean does come up with a plausible lie: he owes money to a loan shark that he's got to pay pronto.
• Bald of Evil: The Monster of the Week Djinn is bald with tattoos covering his head.
• Batter Up!: When Wishverse!Sam wakes up because of a noise downstairs, he grabs a bat before heading down the stairs.
• Be Careful What You Wish For: Subverted, in that the wish didn't actually come true.
• Bedmate Reveal: Dean first wakes up in the Wishverse in a Catapult Nightmare to finding himself naked in bed next to a beautiful woman.
  Dean: The Djinn. The... scary creature. Remember? It put its hand on me and then I woke up... next to some hot chick...
  Wishverse!Sam: Who? [laughs] Carmen?
• Being Good Sucks: Dean sacrifices his happiness again.
  Dean: But I wanted to stay. I wanted to stay so bad. I mean, ever since Dad... all I c–-all I can think about is how much this job's cost us. We've lost so much. We've...sacrificed so much.
• Better to Die than Be Killed: Dean kills himself by thrusting a knife into his stomach to escape the world created by the djinn.
• Big Brother Bully: Wishverse!Dean, who slept with Sam's prom date and generally has a distant relationship with his brother.
• Big Brother Instinct: One of the temptations of the Wishverse for Dean is that Sam is happy and safe.
  Wishverse!Jessica: You don't have to worry about Sam anymore. You get to watch him live a full life.
• Big Eater: Dean shoves a sandwich into his mouth and continues to talk to his mother with a full mouth. The Running Gag of Dean stuffing his face was previously seen in "Nightmare", "Provenance", "Tall Tales", "Hollywood Babylon", and "Folsom Prison Blues".
• Birthday Episode: The celebration of Mary's birthday of December 5th allows the characters to demonstrate how important she is to them. When Wishverse!Mary says she had a "lovely birthday" before going to bed, Wishverse!Sam breaks into a huge smile, and Wishverse!Jessica blows her a kiss.
• Black and Nerdy: The college professor who is wearing glasses, a button-up shirt, and a sweater. He has an outline for the course "Anthropology/Mythology 204" on his computer screen. His office is full of books and artifacts including a mask and a stringed instrument.
• Bland-Name Product:
  • You cannot see the full title of either of the magazines in the trunk of the Wishverse!Impala, but the one with a blonde in a yellow bikini on the cover recalls Playboy^note evidently the Wishverse!Dean is not as big a fan of Busty Asian Beauties. The other resembles Maxim and has a woman with half-closed eyes and the caption "The It Girl Bobbi B!" on the cover.
  • An advertisement on the back of the Playboy magazine in the Wishverse!Impala's trunk is for Sknokoff Vodka and shows a cat looking at a fish in a martini glass with the caption "Everyone's Favorite Martini..."
  • The airline of the crashed plane is United Britannia.
  • Carmen's appearance was based on a model in an advertisement for El Sol Beer.
• Blatant Lies: When the professor says he has not seen Dean in his class, Dean says, "You kiddin' me? I love your lectures. You...You make learning fun." This seems to win the professor over.
• Blood from the Mouth: The woman in white has blood dripping from her lip on her third appearance. Blood pours from Dean's mouth after Dean thrusts the knife into his stomach
• Blood Lust: The djinn has attached tubes to his victims and is filling blood bags. We see empty dry blood bags attached to the decaying corpses and see him drink from a blood bag attached to the woman in white.
• Book Ends: The episode starts with Dean pulling up to the abandoned warehouse in the Impala on a rainy night as "Saturday Night Special" by Lynyrd Skynyrd plays. 29 minutes into the episode Wishverse!Sam and Dean pull up to the same warehouse with the same song playing to confront the djinn.
• Breaking the Bonds: Seeing Sam in trouble is enough for Dean to put aside his weakened condition and snap the ropes binding him. Dean is aided by the fact that Sam had started to cut the ropes before the djinn got the drop on him.
• The Bro Code: Wishverse!Dean violates the code when he hooked up with Rachel Nave, Wishverse!Sam's prom date, on prom night.
• Broken Masquerade: When Dean begins to suspect the alternate reality is not real, the other characters confirm this, but try to convince him he should stay anyway.
  Dean: What if that's what the djinn does? It doesn't grant you a wish, it just makes you think it has.
• Call-Back:
  • Sam believing the police car outside the motel is after them recalls the Pilot, and the new license plate and credit cards reminds us that they were going to go deep (like moving-to-Yemen deep) after realizing what Agent Henriksen was capable of during "Folsom Prison Blues".
  • Dean realizes that something is wrong with the Wishverse when he sees the news coverage of the crash of United Britannia flight 424, which was the plane Sam and he boarded in "Phantom Traveler" that landed safely after they exorcised the demon.
  • Dean starts looking up news articles online and comes across an article titled "Nine Children Comatose; Mystery illness baffles doctors at Dane County Hospital". The article goes on to say that in the last week a deadly illness seems to be spreading from family to family in Fitchburg, Wisconsin. In "Something Wicked", Dean and Sam killed a Shtriga saving these children.
  • The next article Dean reads is titled "Parents mutilated; Brutal double homicide in quiet residential area shocked neighbors". In "Everybody Loves A Clown", Dean and Sam killed a rakshasa who was killing the parents of children who attended a carnival.
  • Dean then reads an article titled "Girl Drowns in Hotel Pool; Mother devastated after discovering daughter drowned". The article goes on to say that 9-year-old Tyler Thompson, daughter of widow Susan Thompson, drowned in the Pierport Inn in Cornwall, Connecticut. There is a quote from her mother saying they don't know why she was on the roof or why she jumped into the pool, but maybe she heard a loud noise. They also mention that Rose Thompson, her grandmother, is the oldest living member of the Thompson family, and that Robert Carlton planned on demolishing the hotel. The article includes a smiling photo of Tyler in a blue shirt. In "Playthings", Sam and Dean try to save Tyler, but it is actually Tyler's grandmother, Rose, who sacrifices her life to stop the vengeful spirit.
  • The scene of Sam walking down the stairs with a baseball bat is very similar to the scene of Mary coming down the same stairs to find a sleeping John in the Pilot. Light comes through the window backlighting Mary and Sam in the same manner. The curtains, wall lamp, and framed photos are slightly different in the two scenes, but still quite similar.
  • The scene where Wishverse!Sam finds Dean stealing the silverware echoes the scene in the Pilot where Dean breaks into Sam's apartment. In both episodes, we see Sam and Jessica sleeping back to back. A noise wakes Sam up while Jessica only stirs in her sleep. Sam sees an open window and attacks the intruder, but is easily bested. Then once Sam recognizes Dean, Dean insults his fighting ability. Sam asks "What the hell are you doing here?" and Dean replies "I was looking for a beer."
• Can't Stay Normal: Dean realizes he is needed as a hunter.
• Cassandra Truth: Dean tries to explain the djinn to Wishverse!Sam.
  Dean: I'm not going to a rubber room, Sammy. And we got work to do.
• Catapult Nightmare: Dean waking up in bed in the Wishverse after the Djinn touches him.
• Chronic Hero Syndrome: Dean, who has to help others, even if it means sacrificing his happiness and those he loves.
• Coincidental Broadcast: Dean decides to watch a little TV. When he turns on the set a cooking show is on on channel 2. Channel 3 is Bloomberg News, showing financial news, and channel 4 is playing an episode of ThunderCats (1985). He then flips to channel 5, which is a news broadcast on 15 KJLT covering the anniversary of the crash of United Britannia Flight 424.
• Come Back to Bed, Honey: Carmen assumes Dean is having trouble sleeping when she finds him in the living room.
  Carmen: Well, why don't you come back to bed and let's see if I can do anything to help.
• Commonality Connection: Subverted Trope. Wishverse!Sam and Dean do not share the experience of hunting together.
  Wishverse!Sam: I... guess we just don't really have anything in common. You know?
  Dean: Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Yes we do. Yes we do. [laughs]
  Wishverse!Sam: What?
  Dean: Hunting.
  Wishverse!Sam: Hunting? I've never been hunting in my life, Dean.
  Dean: Yeah, well, then we should go sometime. I... I think you'd be great at it.
• Continuity Nod:
  • In the episode "Houses Of The Holy", Dean told Sam that their mother would say angels were watching over them when she tucked them in. In this episode, Dean asks Wishverse!Mary what she told him when she put him to bed. She replies, "I told you angels were watching over you."
  • Wishverse!John Winchester played on a softball team. Sam had a baseball mobile over his crib in "Pilot".
  • When Wishverse!Sam falls asleep in the car on the ride to the warehouse in Joliet, Illinois, Dean wakes Wishverse!Sam by shining a flashlight in his face, recalling the prank that started the prank war in "Hell House", when Dean put a spoon in Sam's mouth while he slept in the Impala.
  • Wishverse!Mary is wearing the same white nightgown with a lace collar, rose ribbon, and lace-trimmed short sleeves that she was wearing when she last held Dean as a child in "Pilot" and when he last saw her in "Home". This is not obvious when Dean first sees his mother, as she is wearing a robe with red flowers covering her nightgown, but it is obvious when she confronts Dean in the warehouse.
• Conveniently an Orphan: Dean realizes that if his mother lived or Sam settled down they would not be able to be hunters.
  Dean: [at John's grave] What about us, huh? What, Mom's not supposed to live her life, Sammy's not supposed to get married? Why do we have to sacrifice everything, Dad?
• Conveniently Timed Attack from Behind: Dean stabs the djinn In the Back before the djinn can poison Sam.
• Cooking Show: Dean kicks back with a beer on the couch, puts his boots on the coffee table, and turns on the television to see a man and woman placing ingredients in an appliance, and we learn that the olive oil must have a purpose and they could use water, but are using spinach juice instead.
• Crazy-Prepared: Dean must keep lamb's blood in the Impala, which he dipped his silver knife in before entering the warehouse.
• Dad the Veteran: John Winchester's tombstone bears the Marine Corp logo of the Eagle, the Globe and the Anchor, and his grave is marked with the American flag.
• A Day in the Limelight: The first episode to focus on Dean.
• Deceased Parents Are the Best: In Dean's dream world he gets to be with his mother, who he still sees as a gentle and protective figure. In this dream his father, the parent who actually raised him, is still dead.
  Dean: You're not real. None of it is.
  Wishverse!Mary: It doesn't matter. It's still better than anything you had.
  Dean: What?
  Wishverse!Mary: It's everything you want. We're a family again. Let’s go home.
• Destroy the Product Placement: Dean throws Sam's Verizon Motorola Q8 out the window of the Impala.
• Dies Wide Open: Subverted Trope. Dean finds the woman in white hanging limp with her eyes wide open, apparently dead, but then she whimpers, revealing she is alive.
• Dirt Forcefield: Subverted Trope. The woman in white is wearing grayed dirty clothing with red stains on her blouse, tears in her clothes, and disheveled hair during her second appearance in the restaurant. On her third appearance, she is in even worse shape.
• Disappeared Dad: After Wishverse!Sam and Wishverse!Jessica announce their engagement, Wishverse!Mary says, "I just wish your dad was here", and Wishverse!Sam agrees with her.
• Dissolve: The newspaper articles fade from one into another when Dean is researching past cases online.
• Distracted by the Sexy: Dean's mind wanders when, while discussing djinn with Sam, Sam uses I Dream of Jeannie as an allegory, saying that djinn are not "like Barbara Eden in harem pants."
  Dean: My God. Barbara Eden was hot, wasn't she? Way hotter than that Bewitched chick. ^note Elizabeth Montgomery
  Sam: Are you even listening to me?
• Dramatic Drop: After looking around the house, Dean sees a framed photo which he drops in shock, the photo landing face-down so the audience can't see what it is. He then drives to a house in the middle of the night...to meet Mom.
• Dramatic Thunder: The rumble of thunder as Dean completes his speech at his father's grave.
• Dream Apocalypse: Carmen and the Wishverse version of Dean's family die when he awakens.
• Dressed to Heal: Dean realizes Carmen is a nurse when he seeing her changing into green scrubs with her name tag clipped to the pocket.
• Drives Like Crazy: In the teaser, Dean not only is talking on his cell phone while driving at night in a rainstorm, but also spends most of his time looking down or out the side windows instead of at the road.
• Due to the Dead: A candle-lit vigil is held in Indianapolis one year after the crash of Flight 424, and we see people leaving messages of support for the family members who lost a loved one.
• Dying to Wake Up: Upon finding out the truth about how the djinn 'grants wishes' (by trapping its victims in a mental Lotus-Eater Machine in which their biggest wish appears to be granted), Dean decides to try to escape back to the real world by killing himself, citing this trope by saying "If you die in a dream, you wake up." And sure enough, immediately after fatally stabbing himself, he wakes up in the real world in time to find Sam calling his name and working to untie him from the restraints the djinn had placed him in while he was in the 'wish world'.
• Embarrassing Old Photo: According to the DVD Commentary by Eric Kripke on this episode, some of the photos Dean looks at in his childhood home are real photos from Jared and Jensen, while others were Photoshopped to put the whole family together. The photo of a young Dean holding a girl in a blue sparkling dress with a corsage on her wrist was actually a Real Life prom photo of Jensen Ackles, and the photo of Sam in an orange cap and gown is a Real Life graduation photo of Jared Padalecki.
• Emerging from the Shadows: The silhouette of the djinn is seen on the back-lit red screen behind the woman in white before he walks around the screen and reveals himself.
• Enemy Rising Behind: Sam does not notice the djinn as he cuts Dean down while facing the camera, but Dean warns him.
• Enter Stage Window: Dean breaks into his mother's house through the living room window to get the silver knife.
• Ethereal White Dress:
  • Dean keeps seeing a brunette is a white blouse, long white skirt, and white shoes; rather than a supernatural being, she turns out to be another victim strung up alongside him, a reminder of why he should wake up. When they find her in the warehouse, she is wearing the same clothes she appeared in, which are now filthy and blood-stained, but she is barefoot.
  • Wishverse!Mary is wearing the same white nightgown in which Dean last saw her.
• Evil-Detecting Dog: Subverted Trope. We hear a dog barking, then a clattering noise wakes Wishverse!Sam up. Sam grabs his bat to face the intruder, only to find Dean.
• Eyelights Out: The djinn's glowing blue eyes fade before he collapses dead.
• Face Framed in Shadow: Dean in the teaser.
• Family Business: Wishverse!Dean works in a garage. In "Home", we find out that John Winchester owned a garage with Mike Guenther in Lawrence, Kansas. Later during "In The Beginning", John Winchester describes himself as a mechanic from a family of mechanics.
• Fancy Dinner: They celebrate Wishverse!Mary's birthday at a nice restaurant, complete with Dean's salad of asparagus spears bound into an upright sheaf.
• Fanservice: While neither Dean or Carmen are wearing much in bed, Wishverse Sam and Jessica disappoint with both of them sleeping in T-shirts. Wishverse!Sam is wearing sweat pants as well, but there is a shot of Jessica's tight boxer briefs while she lies on her side in bed.
• Fictional Counterpart:
  • After Dean visits with the college professor, he sees a woman in white standing in front of a sign saying "Anthropology University of Kansas".
  • Dean reads The Indianapolis Sun online. The tagline of The Indianapolis Sun is "The voice of the people", while the tagline of Real Life The Indianapolis Star is "Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty" II Cor. 3:17.
• The Final Temptation: Dean is tempted to leave his life as a hunter.
  Wishverse!Mary: I promise. No more pain. Or fear. Just love and comfort. And safety. Dean, stay with us.
• Flashback Effects: Before and after the brief flashbacks to the figures Dean saw in his closet and the prior appearance of the woman in white, there were flashes of bright white. The flashbacks were also desaturated.
• Flashback-Montage Realization: When Dean finds the bodies hanging from their wrists in the warehouse, brief cuts show the figures he saw in the closet and the reappearing woman in white, revealing that these figures were reality interrupting his fantasy.
• Flash Sideways: Dean has flashes of the real world while in the Wishverse, seeing the djinn's other victims and finally his own situation.
  Dean: What if that's why she keeps appearing to me? She's not a spirit. It's—it's like more and more like I'm catching flashes of reality. You know, like I'm in here somewhere, and I'm—I'm catatonic, and I'm taking all this stuff in but I—but I can't snap out of it.
• Flyaway Shot: As Dean walks through the cemetery leaving his father's grave, the camera elevates above the trees with brown, dead leaves and bare branches and shows the river illuminated with lights on a bridge.
• Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: In the Wishverse, Dean is less focused and more of a rogue without hunting, while Sam is more respectable and accomplished. This is an example where the younger sibling appears to be more responsible.
• Forgotten Birthday: Wishverse!Sam is disappointed that Dean does not realize today is their mother's birthday.
• Fork Fencing: Dean steals a knife from his mother's good silver dining set to kill the djinn, but ends up using it to kill himself.
• For Want Of A Nail: Sam and Dean can't save lives if they're not hunters. In addition, Sam and Dean do not become close without hunting.
  Sam: I thought it was supposed to be this perfect fantasy.
  Dean: It wasn't. It was just a wish. I wished for Mom to live. That Mom never died, we never went hunting and you and me just never uh...you know.
  Sam: Yeah. Well, I'm glad we do.
• Friendship Moment: Wishverse!Sam insists on going with his brother to pay off the "gambling debt".
• Genre Blind: "I'm sure it's nothing. I just wanna take a look around." Really, Dean?
• Getting Smilies Painted on Your Soul: The djinn brings Dean true happiness, but Dean realizes it is not reality.
  Dean: Maybe it gives us some kind of supernatural acid, and then just feeds on us slow.
• Girl of My Dreams: Subverted Trope. Carmen seems to be the perfect partner for Dean, but when he returns to reality he realizes he had previously seen her in an advertisement for his favorite beer, suggesting the Carmen in the Wishverse was just a part of the fantasy.
  Dean: How did I end up with such a cool chick?
  Carmen: Just got low standards.
• The Glomp: Dean's reaction to seeing Mary and Jessica alive.
  Wishverse!Jessica: [being squeezed by Dean] Good to see you too, Dean... Can't breathe, okay.
• Gorn: When the woman in white is whimpering and trying to pull away from the djinn, we see her bare feet, which barely reach the ground, slipping in a puddle of her own blood.
• Grave-Marking Scene: Dean visits the grave of his father, as in the Wishverse his father was not a hunter who had a hunter's funeral. The tombstone says JOHN E. WINCHESTER, 1954-2006, LOVING HUSBAND & FATHER, REMEMBERED FOREVER.
• Grease Monkey: Wishverse!Dean works at the garage.
• Great Big Book of Everything: Sam has John's journal open to an entry on djinn sitting on top of the other books about djinn.
• Hard-Work Montage: Dean mows the lawn to Joey Ramone's cover of "What A Wonderful World" and then sits down to enjoy an El Sol beer.
• Held Gaze: The woman in white holds Dean's gaze from across the road or across the room as she takes deep deliberate breaths and appears unaffected by those around her.
• Hollywood Darkness: Dean and John's grave are well-lit in the cemetery at night.
• Hollywood Kiss: Wishverse!Sam and Jessica share one of these, and then Dean and Carmen also demonstrate a romantic kiss during the birthday dinner.
• Home Sweet Home: Dean is thrilled to mow the lawn. His childhood home has a picket fence with red and yellow roses, green shrubs, and a smiling garden gnome with a wheelbarrow.
• Hong Kong Dub: There are multiple shots of Dean at his father's grave, where his mouth does not move even though his speech continues.
• Hospital Hottie: Carmen is a nurse at the local hospital.
  Dean: [looking at Carmen's rear as she changes into her scrubs] I'm dating a nurse. That is so...respectable.
• Iconic Item: In the Wishverse, Dean is wearing a medallion on a silver chain instead of his amulet. If you look carefully, it seems to be a Saint Michael medal which is typically worn by law enforcement agents, but is likely meant to be a bit of foreshadowing.
• Idea Bulb: When Dean sees the light bulb above his head in the warehouse, he has a revelation. There is an electrical whine, and the light flickers before Dean sees himself bound and being drained of blood.
• I Have You Now, My Pretty: The djinn caresses the face of the woman in white while she whimpers and tries to pull away. Once she has relaxed back into the dream state, he embraces her and lets his lips linger over her arm before drinking her blood.
• I Just Want to Be Normal: Oh, Dean.
  Dean: [at his father's grave] But why? Why is it my job to save these people? Why do I have to be some kind of hero?
• I Let Gwen Stacy Die: Dean realizes that he cannot be happy knowing that all the people the Winchesters saved are now dead.
  Dean: [watching the coverage of the plane crash] No, no. I stopped that crash.
• Insistent Terminology: Wishverse!Sam does not like being called "Sammy" anymore than Real!Sam, but for a different reason. This argument about Dean's Affectionate Nickname is also a Call-Back to "Pilot", "The Benders", "Bloodlust", and "Hunted".
  Dean: I'm just happy for you, Sammy.
  Wishverse!Sam: Yeah, right. That's another thing. Since when do you call me Sammy? [Beat] Dean, come on. We don't talk outside of holidays.
• In Spite of a Nail: John is still dead.
• Instant Waking Skills: When Wishverse!Sam hears a noise downstairs, his eyes pop open and he is ready to face the intruder.
• It's a Wonderful Plot: Inverted Trope. What the world would be like if Mary Winchester did not die.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: One of the reasons Dean is so happy in the Wishverse is that that Sam and Mary are safe and well.
• Jackass Genie: The djinn is a malevolent creatures who does not actually grant wishes, but manipulates a person's desires to allow the djinn to feed.
• Just Eat Him: Instead of just knocking out his victims, opening an artery, and filling the blood bags quickly, the djinn slowly drains blood over days while creating an elaborate fantasy for the victims.
• Kiss Me, I'm Virtual: Dean seems genuinely attracted to Carmen, and even after he realizes she is not real he kisses her back when she tries to convince him to remain in the Wishverse.
• Kryptonite Factor: Djinn can be killed with a silver knife dipped in lamb's blood, which Dean has in hand when entering the abandoned warehouse.
• Kung-Foley: The roar of the Impala's engine when Dean pulls up outside the warehouse.
• Lens Flare: When Dean and Wishverse!Sam explore the warehouse, we see lens flares when Dean shines his flashlight at the camera.
• "Leave Your Quest" Test: Dean struggles with his desire to save others as a hunter and his desire for his family to be happy.
  Dean: [at his father's grave] 'Course, I know what you'd say. Well, not the you that played softball, but..."So go hunt the djinn. He put you here, it can put you back. Your happiness, for all those people's lives, no contest." Right?
• Let's Split Up, Gang!: Dean insists on investigating by himself, despite Sam's warning. Not 10 seconds later, he get captured.
• Light Feminine and Dark Feminine: Blonde Jessica seems more innocent and wears light clothing; while Brunette Carmen has a more teasing, sexy manner and wears darker clothes.
• Literal Metaphor: The tag line in the beer commercial which inspired Dean's Wishverse girlfriend was "go someplace better".
• The Load: Wishverse!Sam at the warehouse.
  Dean: Stay behind me and keep your mouth shut.
• Lotus-Eater Machine: Downplayed, Dean is to begin with very happy about the new world he finds himself in, but he soon discovers some serious downsides to it, such as the fact that him and Sam aren't close, as well as the fact that the supernatural still very much exist in this world and since him and Sam weren't around to solve the cases they solved in the real world, all of them has ended in tragedy.
• Loveable Rogue: One of the aspects about Dean that seems unchanged in the Wishverse.
  Wishverse!Sam: "You're my brother"?
  Dean: Yeah.
  Wishverse!Sam: You know, that's what you said when you snaked my ATM card, or when you bailed on my graduation, or when you hooked up with Rachel Nave.
  Dean: Who?
  Wishverse!Sam: Uh, my prom date. On prom night.
  Dean: Yeah, that does kinda sound like me. Well, hey, man, I'm sorry about all that.
• Love Is a Weakness: Dean's desire to be with his mother and see Sam happy is manipulated by the djinn to try to get him to remain in the Wishverse. The woman in white seems to be being manipulated by a desire to be with her father.
• Lust Object: Carmen is entirely based on a poster girl from a beer ad Dean is attracted to in the real world.
• Make a Wish: Dean wishes that his mother was alive. The woman in white believes she is with her father.
  Dean: [to Wishverse!Mary] You don't think that wishes can—can really...
• Meaningful Echo:
  • Hearing Wishverse!Mary tell Dean to "Get some rest" is heartwarming early in the episode when she cradles his face in his hands after he arrives at her house and appears upset. It also seems to suggest Wishverse!Sam really does care for Dean, when Wishverse!Sam says "Get some rest" after explaining that the two brothers are not that close. Later, the same line takes on a creepier tone when Wishverse!Mary delivers it while stroking Dean's cheek, but we know this Mary is a creation of the djinn, the same djinn who stroked the face of the bound woman in white clothes and told her to "sleep".
  • When Dean is at his father's grave he asks, "Why is it my job to save these people?" Later when Wishverse!Sam tries to convince Dean to give him the knife he says, "Why is it our job to save everyone? Haven't we done enough?"
  • The image of Carmen smiling on a beach, which was framed in the home she shared with Dean, is seen at the end of the episode, as an ad for El Sol beer.
• Metallicar Syndrome: Despite the events of "Folsom Prison Blues", Dean keeps driving his 1967 Chevy Impala, but he did switch out the Kansas plate KAZ 2Y5 to an Ohio plate◊ CNK 80Q3, which includes the rising sun from the Ohio State Seal and reminds us that Ohio is the Birthplace of Aviation.
• Mirror Scare: Dean sees the woman in white, now covered in blood, standing behind him in the mirror on the closet door.
• Modesty Bedsheet: When Carmen's first introduced sleeping next to a confused Dean, she has the sheets tucked around her body to cover her bust, although it still shows her bare back and legs.
• Mr. Exposition: Dean pretends to be a student in order to discuss djinn with a college professor. According to the DVD Commentary by Eric Kripke, this professor was added to the episode to give Dean someone to talk to, as he didn't have Sam to discuss the case with and they didn't want to have Dean monologuing in an empty room.
• Ms. Fanservice: Carmen is very attractive and is introduced sleeping naked next to Dean and spends most of her screentime wearing just a nightrobe.
• Mundane Object Amazement: Dean just can't stop smiling while he mows the lawn, even though Dean has quite a bit more trouble with the mower than he has handling a machete or a shotgun.
  Wishverse!Mary: Knock yourself out. You'd think you'd never mowed a lawn in your life.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Dean's reaction when he found out that Flight 424 crashed outside of Pittsburgh, killing all 108 people on board. He then finds out that all the people he saved with his father and brother are also dead.
• Neck Lift: The djinn chokes Dean against the wall with one hand in the teaser.
• No Peripheral Vision: In the teaser, Dean does not notice the figure over his left shoulder watching him on the other side of the frosted windows, and walks right past the djinn who stand to his right as Dean walks down the hallway.
• No Sense of Personal Space: Dean is more touchy-feely than normal. He keeps slapping Wishverse!Sam on the shoulder and gives tight embraces to Jessica and his mother.
• Not Afraid to Die: Dean is pretty cavalier about killing himself, even if it is a dream.
  Dean: No, I'm pretty sure. Like, 90% sure. But I'm sure enough. [turns knife towards himself, getting ready to thrust it into his stomach]
• Nostalgia Filter: Another shared trait between Dean and Wishverse!Dean. The coffee table in front of the couch at Dean and Carmen's home has a stack of cassette tapes and only one CD sitting among comic books and magazines. One of the comic books, Six From Sirius, is a classic from Epic (a division of Marvel Comics) from 1984. The stack of tapes is also a Continuity Nod to when Sam told Dean he needed to update his cassette tape collection in "Pilot".
• No-Tell Motel: They are staying at the Joliet Motel. Their room has a pole lamp room divider, swirly red wallpaper, wood laminate, and a huge, ornate clock.
• Not Himself: When Dean suggests they all go out and have a drink, Wishverse!Sam quietly takes him aside and points out they're really not that close.
  Wishverse!Sam: Okay. What's gotten into you?
  Dean: What do you mean?
  Wishverse!Sam: I mean this whole warm, fuzzy, ecstasy-trip thing.
• Not in Kansas Anymore: This is initially an Inverted Trope, as Dean collapsed in Joliet, Illinois, but when he wakes up he finds mail addressed to Carmen Porter and himself at 53 Barker Ave., Lawrence, KS 66044. However, once Dean finds the abandoned warehouse where he first encountered the djinn, he can't resist a Shout-Out to The Wizard of Oz.
  Dean: [to Wishverse!Sam] Well, we're not in Kansas anymore. [looks at his brother, frowns] Illinois.
• Not What It Looks Like: Subverted; Wishverse!Sam finds Dean breaking into the silverware cabinet. He gives this trope, then explains that he's stealing the silverware to "pay a gambling debt".
• Nuclear Candle: Dean's flashlight is the only source of light on a rainy night in the abandoned warehouse.
• Number of the Beast: The softball uniform John Winchester is wearing in the photo has a Route 66 symbol on the sleeve.
• Occult Blue Eyes: The djinn has glowing blue eyes when he uses his powers.
• Older Than They Look: Wishverse!Mary turns 52, but is portrayed by a 37-year-old actor.
• One-Hour Work Week: Discussed Trope. Wishverse!Dean is not a hunter. He works at a garage, and Wishverse!Mary wonders why Dean is not at work. Later, Carmen has to interrupt Dean from kissing her, because she has a night shift at the hospital.
  Wishverse!Mary: Sweetie, I—I... Don't get me wrong. I am thrilled you are... hanging out here... all of a sudden. [touches Dean's chin] But, uh... shouldn't you be at work?
  Dean: Work?
  Wishverse!Mary: At the garage?
  Dean: Right. The garage. It's where I work, yeah. No, I—I—I've got the day off.
• One True Love: Dean suggests Carmen could be this for him.
  Dean: You know, I get it.
  Carmen: Get what?
  Dean: Why you're the one.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Seeing Wishverse!Sam with his back against the wall, eyes large in the shadows, as he seems to need to gather his courage before he swings his baseball bat at the supposed intruder, reminds the viewers how much the real Sam has progressed as a hunter since "Pilot", where he behaved similarly. Dean can't help teasing Real!Sam with the behavior of his counterpart.
  Dean: You should have seen it, Sam. Our lives. You were such a wussy.
• Our Genies Are Different: The djinn doesn't actually grant wishes, instead trapping its victims in a Lotus-Eater Machine so it can drink their blood.
• Paper-Thin Disguise: Sam and Dean in no way alter their appearance and continue to drive a 1967 Chevrolet Impala, despite knowing FBI Agent Henriksen is chasing them, they have arrest warrants in at least five states, and they recently escaped from prison. Dean seems to believe getting a new license plate and credit cards should be enough of a disguise.
  Dean: I don't see how. I mean we ditched the plates, the credit cards.
• Peaceful in Death: Wishverse!John died in his sleep from a stroke.
• Peek-a-Boo Corpse: When Dean opens his closet door, he sees the decaying bodies of two women, one in a flannel shirt and the other in a red hoodie and blouse, which disappear when Dean looks away.
• Photos Lie: In the Wishverse, Dean looks at photos of his family. There is a Christmas picture of his mother, his father, Sam, and him, wearing matching Christmas sweaters with train engines on them, complete with John in a Santa hat. There is another photo of John and Mary at Sam's graduation. In reality, his mother died when Sam was an infant. Later we see a photo of John with an impressively large fish who is smiling into the camera, striking a contrast with the desperate hunter trying to find his wife's killer who raised Sam and Dean and did not have times for these pursuits.
• Pietà Plagiarism: In From Hell It Came, the movie playing when Dean wakes up, the tree monster is carrying an unconscious woman.
• Platonic Cave: The Wishverse.
  Sam: And I'm glad you dug yourself out, Dean. Most people wouldn't've had the strength, would have just stayed.
  Dean: Yeah... lucky me. I gotta tell you though, man. You know, you had Jess. Mom was gonna have grand-kids...
  Sam: Yeah, but.. .Dean... it wasn't real.
• Plot-Based Photograph Obfuscation: Dean looks for clues in the living room he shares with Carmen, and he sees a framed photo of Carmen and two further framed photos of Carmen and him together. He then picks up another frame and drops it in surprise, with it landing face down so the audience never sees the photo. He then drives to his childhood home, where his mother answers the door.
• Power Glows: The glowing blue hand of the djinn.
• Power Tattoo: The djinn is covered by elaborate tattoos on his earlobes, face, scalp, and hands.
• Product Placement:
  • Wishverse!Sam's Verizon Motorola Q8 phone, on which he is reviewing e-mails when Dean calls him. Sam had the same model of phone in "Hollywood Babylon".
  • The prominent display of Gold Medal Flour in the cooking show Dean watches on television.
• Prophet Eyes: After the djinn attacks Dean in the teaser, Dean's eyes roll back and are covered with a gray film.
• Proper Lady: Wishverse!Mary is portrayed as incredibly gentle and devoted, appearing as a Madonna-like character.
• Puppy-Dog Eyes: Wishverse!Sam turns these on Dean when he begs Dean to stay and give him the knife.
• Red Filter of Doom: In the Wishverse warehouse, the bodies are hanging in front of back-lit red screens, giving these scenes an ominous and unreal air.
• Right Under Their Noses: Dean takes Wishverse!Sam to the djinn's lair to confront the djinn, and at one point they are literally hiding under the djinn's nose as they hide under an open metal-frame staircase as the djinn walks up the steps.
• Ring-Ring-CRUNCH!: When Wishverse!Sam tries to call for help, believing Dean has had a psychotic break, Dean rolls down the car window, grabs the phone, and tosses it out the window of the moving car. He then rolls the window up again.
  Wishverse!Sam: What the hell was that, Dean? That was my phone!
• Running Gag: People keep asking Dean if he's been drinking.
  • When Dean calls Wishverse!Sam:
  Dean: Well, the, uh, the Djinn. It attacked me.
  Wishverse!Sam: The gin? You're... drinking gin?
  • Again, during the same call:
  Wishverse!Sam: Dean, you're drunk. You're drunk-dialing me.
  • After Dean finds out his father died from a stroke in his sleep in the Wishverse:
  Wishverse!Mary: You've been drinking.
  • When Dean asks the professor about djinn:
  Professor: Son, you been drinking?
  Dean: Everybody keeps asking me that. But, uh... no.
  • When Wishverse!Sam arrives at the family home:
  Wishverse!Sam: [motions to the beer in Dean's hand] I see you started off Mom's birthday with a bang, as usual.
• Satiating Sandwich: Dean appreciates the lettuce, tomato, and lunch meat, placed between 2 pieces of bread by his mother.
  Dean: [mouth full, to Wishverse!Mary] Mmm. Mmm. Mmm! This is the best sandwich, ever!
• Scare Chord: In the teaser, when Dean steps quickly into the hallway of the warehouse with the knife in his hand, but nothing is there.
• Sdrawkcab Alias: The Winchester home has the number 1841 beside the door. This is reversed from the house number 1481 seen in "Pilot" and "Home".
• Sharp-Dressed Man: Usually, we only see Sam and Dean dressed up when they are impersonating law enforcement agents, but in the Wishverse they put on their best for their mother's birthday. Dean wears a blue button-up shirt with a black woven tie, and Sam wears a black pinstripe suit with the yellow tie with blue squares that was previously seen in "Simon Said".
• Shirtless Scene: Dean is not wearing a shirt when he wakes up in the Wishverse.
• Shout-Out:
  • Sam says djinn are not like Barbara Eden in harem pants in I Dream of Jeannie. Dean also states that he prefers Eden to Elizabeth Montgomery of Bewitched (Dean being Dean, he says that it's because Eden was "hot," "way hotter than that Bewitched chick").
  • Deal states that djinn are all over the Quran.
  • When Dean wakes up in the Wishverse, From Hell It Came, one of the best movies featuring a Polynesian tree monster named Tabanga, is playing on the television.
  • Dean and Carmen have a copy of Doug Moench's and Paul Gulacy's comic Six From Sirius on top of a copy of Sports Illustrated on their coffee table.
  • While Dean is flipping channels, we see Cheetara talking to Lynx-O, Tygra, and Panthro, from ThunderCats (1985).
  • There is a framed poster for Immaculate Machine, a Canadian indie pop band, on the wall of Dean's and Carmen's bedroom.
  • Dean references The Wizard of Oz twice. See Not in Kansas Anymore and There's No Place Like Home.
• Sibling Yin-Yang: In the Wishverse the Winchester brothers do not have hunting to draw them together, and do not have anything in common.
  Wishverse!Sam: I can't believe we're even related.
• Single Tear: Dean has two perfect tears run down his cheeks while delivering his soliloquy at his father's grave.
• Smash Cut: Dean thrusts the knife into his abdomen and the camera cuts to Sam yelling, "Dean". Only it's not Wishverse!Sam protesting Dean's death, but Real!Sam waking Dean from his djinn-induced sleep.
• So Much for Stealth: Dean warns Wishverse!Sam not to make any noise in the djinn's lair, but he can't help gasping in horror on seeing the djinn drink blood from one of its victims.
• Southern Rock: "Saturday Night Special" by Lynyrd Skynyrd plays in the teaser when Sam calls Dean, while Dean is driving.
• Spot the Imposter: Dean checks he really is talking to his mother before hugging her by getting her to repeat something from his childhood.
• Standard Bleeding Spots: On the woman in white's third appearance, she has a cut across her forehead with blood dripping into her left eye and blood dripping from the side of her mouth.
• Stealth Hi/Bye: The woman in white appears to Dean, and then disappears. The first time, she disappears when Dean is nearly struck by a car. The second time, she disappears when Dean looks away as someone walks in front of him at the restaurant. The third time, she flickers and then disappears as he is staring at her.
• Stepford Suburbia: Dean waves in a cheerful manner at a neighbor bringing out his garbage. The neighbor returns the wave, but seem uncertain of what is going on.
• Stock Sound Effects: The thunder and the creaking door when Dean enters the warehouse.
• A Storm Is Coming: The rainstorm in the teaser.
• Switching P.O.V.: You would imagine that all the scenes in the Wishverse would be shown from Dean's perspective, as this world was created for his benefit. But from the beginning we have scenes showing Wishverse!Sam's viewpoint, including the shot of him reading e-mails and studying from a law book when Dean calls, and of Wishverse!Sam hearing the noise from downstairs that causes him to grab the bat and investigate. We actually have less scenes from the viewpoint of Real!Sam than Wishverse!Sam in this episode.
• Subverted Catchphrase: When Dean calls Sam "Bitch", instead of responding with "Jerk", Wishverse!Sam appears offended and hurt by the remark. This is a Continuity Nod to "Pilot" and "Hunted".
  Dean: Bitch.
  Wishverse!Sam: What are you calling me a bitch for?
  Dean: You're supposed to say "jerk".
  Wishverse!Sam: What?
  Dean: Never mind.
• Take Five: Wishverse!Sam asks Jessica and Carmen to leave so he can talk to his brother "for a sec".
• Talking to the Dead: On discovering all of the people who died because he's not a hunter, Dean visits his father's grave and delivers a bitter tirade to John Winchester's tombstone, asking why he and Sam have to be so unhappy because they're fated to be heroes.
• Survivor Guilt: Dean realizes his happiness comes at too great a cost.
  Dean: [at his father's grave] All of them. Everyone that you saved, everyone Sammy and I saved. They're all dead.
• Themed Aliases: This is the third episode in a row where this is an Averted Trope. Dean pretends to be a student when he talks to the professor, but does not offer the professor a fake name.
• There's No Place Like Home: Dean is willing to kill himself to get back to his reality, and can't resist a second Shout-Out to The Wizard of Oz during this episode.
  Sam: Oh God. Come on. [shaking Dean] Hey. Wake up. Wake up, damn it! Hey. Hey.
  Dean: Ahh... Auntie Em. There's no place like home.
• Thicker Than Water: Wishverse!Sam's reason for going with Dean.
  Wishverse!Sam: Look, whatever stupid thing you're about to do, you're not doing it alone. And that's that.
  Dean: I don't understand. Why you doing this?
  Wishverse!Sam: [sighs] Because you're still my brother.
• Things That Go "Bump" in the Night: Dean's explanation of the djinn to Wishverse!Sam.
  Dean: It's the truth, Sam. All right, there are things out there in the dark. There—there—there are bad things. There are nightmare things. And people have to be saved and if we don't save them, then nobody will.
• Titled After the Song: A song on Led Zeppelin's 1969 album Led Zeppelin II. This is also the title of an episode of One Tree Hill, That '70s Show, and Covert Affairs. Other Supernatural episodes have been named after Led Zeppelin songs including "In My Time of Dying" and "Houses of the Holy".
• Touch of the Monster: Shown on the B-Movie playing when Dean wakes up, presumably his subconscious telling Dean he's actually being held prisoner instead of living in an alternate timeline.
• Trademark Favorite Food: After Dean is served a plate of garnished asparagus spears, Carmen says, "What do you say, later we get you a cheeseburger?" Dean responds, "Oh God, yes!"
• Trapped by Gambling Debts: Dean pretends to be stealing his mother's good silver because he lost big to a bookie on a game and has to pay him in cash tonight.
• Traveling at the Speed of Plot: Wishverse!Sam catches Dean stealing the silver knife in the early morning hours, but by the time they drive from Lebanon, Kansas, to Joliet, Illinois, a less-than-8-hour drive, it is already dark.
• Treacherous Spirit Chase: Dean sees the back of a fleeing woman while working on his computer. He follows the woman into his bedroom, where he hears a noise coming from the closet. When he opens the closet door, he finds decaying corpses hanging by their wrists, which disappear when he looks away.
• Trunk Shot: Averted Trope. When Dean looks in the trunk of the Wishverse!Impala, the camera is behind Dean's left shoulder and we see into the trunk from Dean's point of view. The trunk contains a spare tire, a couple of magazines (the paper kind), a flashlight, an old shirt, and fast food containers, but not one weapon.
• Trust Password: Before Dean can accept that his mother is alive, he asks her what she used to say when she put him to bed.
• Trying Not to Cry: Dean when he hugs his mother and later before he stabs himself in the stomach to end the dream.
• Tuckerization:
  • When Dean calls, Wishverse!Sam is reading an e-mail on his phone from Christopher Cooper which starts, "Hey Dude.....How you doing, man? I'm doing pretty damn good myself. I've been meaning to sit down and write". Christopher Cooper is the property master on Supernatural. For some reason his e-mail address seen on the phone is [e-mail]. Wishverse!Sam's inbox reveals that the title of this e-mail is "Sam Winchester". There are two other e-mails from Christopher Cooper, one titled "S. Winchester Itinerary - 244DRF76" and the other titled "Sammy".
  • The book Wishverse!Sam closes after Dean calls him is Criminal Law & Procedure by Kevin Parks. Kevin Parks is the first assistant director on the odd numbered episodes of Supernatural.
  • Wishverse!Sam's prom date, who hooked up with Wishverse!Dean, is Rachel Nave. Rachel Nave was also one of the writers of "Bugs".
• Undeathly Pallor: Subverted Trope. The woman in white and Dean look dead as their pale bodies hang limply with open red-rimmed eyes, but they both pull through.
• Urban Legends: Dean is guided by an old wives' tale that if you're about to die in a dream, you wake up. This is opposed to the other common belief that if you die in a dream, you die in real life.
• Unwilling Suspension: The two dead women Dean sees in his closet are hanging by their wrists. Later, when he returns to the warehouse, Dean and Sam find the bodies of these two women hanging in the same manner as well as the woman in white. In the real world, Dean is also hanging by his wrists in the warehouse.
• Vehicle Vanish: Dean notices a woman in white who is staring at him from across the street. As Dean crosses the street, a red car almost hits him. The car screeches to a halt and the driver honks his horn at Dean. When Dean looks up, the woman in white has disappeared.
• We Want Our Jerk Back!: Wishverse!Sam seem disturbed by the new caring Dean who wants to be part of his life, although Mary and Carmen are more accepting of Dean's new attitude.
• What If?: What if Mary Winchester was still alive?
• White Shirt of Death: During the woman in white's second appearance, she has smudges of red on her blouse. By her third appearance, her blouse is soaked in blood.
• Whole-Plot Reference: This episode bears more than a passing resemblance to the Batman: The Animated Series episode Perchance to Dream, even down to the character in the Lotus-Eater Machine being Driven to Suicide to escape.
• With This Ring:
  • Wishverse!Mary is still wearing her wedding band, despite being a widow.
  • Wishverse!Jessica shows off her diamond ring to announce their engagement at the birthday dinner.
• Yank the Dog's Chain: Dean has his mother, a wonderful girlfriend, and knows Sam is happy. Of course, that can't last.
  Carmen: Okay. What's gotten into you lately?
  Dean: This isn't gonna make a lick of sense to you. But I kind of feel like I've been given a second chance. And I don't wanna waste it.
• Year Inside, Hour Outside: Deans says he needs to wake up from the Lotus-Eater Machine or he'll die in a couple of days when his blood is drained. His Wishverse family tries to convince him otherwise, saying in his mind the fantasy will last years.
  Dean: I'll die. [voice breaking] The djinn'll... drain the life out of me in a couple of days.
  Wishverse!Mary: But in here, with us, it'll feel like years. Like a lifetime.
• You Can't Go Home Again: But Dean tries.
  Dean: I wanna stay here.
  Wishverse!Mary: Why?
  Dean: Because I miss the place.
• You Do Not Want To Know: Dean tells Wishverse!Sam he really doesn't want to look in the brown paper bag. When Sam finds a tub of blood in there, Dean tells him he really doesn't want to know what it's for. Sam insists.
  Wishverse!Sam: What's in the bag?
  Dean: Nothin'.
  Wishverse!Sam: Nothin'?
  Dean: Yeah, nothin'.
  Wishverse!Sam: Fine [grabs the bag and begins to open it]
  Dean: You don't wanna do that.
  Wishverse!Sam: Oh really? [takes out a plastic container of "red liquid"] What the hell is this?
  Dean: Blood.
  Wishverse!Sam: Yeah, I can see that it's blood, Dean! What the hell is it doing in here?
  Dean: You don't really wanna know.
• You Have to Believe Me!: Wishverse!Sam thinks Dean is having a psychotic break when Dean tells him about the djinn.
  Dean: Because there's this creature. A djinn. And I have to hunt it.
  Wishverse!Sam: Okay, um... stop the car.
  Dean: I know how it sounds.
  • Subverted earlier in the episode when Sam catches Dean stealing the silver knife; Dean simply claims that he owes money to a loan shark.
• Your Favorite: Dean's Wishverse!girlfriend, Carmen, produces his favorite brand of beer, El Sol. Cruelly subverted after Dean wakes up from the Wishverse, and finds his "perfect girlfriend" smiling back at him in a magazine ad for that brand.
  Dean: [taking beer from Carmen] My favorite. I guess you know me pretty well.
  Carmen: 'Fraid so.

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