‘Supernatural’ season 12 episode 11 spoilers/recap: ‘Regarding Dean’ is ‘Yellow Fever’ but heartbreaking [VIDEO]

Jensen Ackles as Dean Winchester in "Supernatural" season 12 episode 11 "Regarding Dean" The CW Television Network

“Supernatural” season 12 episode 11 has had Dean Winchester (Jensen Ackles) losing his memory. “Regarding Dean” brought back the witch Rowena (Ruth Connell) as she teamed up with Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean to find out what happened to the elder Winchester brother the night before.

‘Supernatural’ season 12 episode 11 spoilers ahead. The following recaps and reviews the episode ‘Regarding Dean.’

The episode started with Dean running after an injured man, who then hit him with a spell that knocked him out. He woke up the next morning without memory of the night before. It first appeared as a drunken night gone awry, but as Dean showed increasing memory lost – he couldn’t remember his own name for a second and even forgot supernatural entities existed – Sam got worried and called for Rowena’s help.

Upon investigating, Sam found out Dean chased a male witch after shooting him that night. Before dying, the witch was able to put a hex on him. Sam found out from Rowena that the man was Gideon Loughlin, who came from a powerful family of witches that Rowena thought was long dead. Gideon’s brother and sister, Boyd and Catriona, were the last two surviving Loughlins. Rowena promised to help them in return for the Loughlin’s spell book, Black Grimoire.

Dean’s losing himself

“My name is Dean Winchester. Sam is my brother. Mary Winchester is my mum. And Cas… Cas is my best friend.” Dean tried to hold onto basic facts about his life as he stared at his reflection in the mirror.

It started as somewhat hilarious as Dean had trouble naming everyday objects and remembering his own hunting skills. However, as he stared at himself in the mirror, trying so hard and failing to cling onto bits of information about himself, it become apparent that it was no laughing matter. The pain and frustration in his eyes were all too real, as if not remembering anything was hurting him a lot. As Sam told Rowena, he had watched his brother die a hundred times, but Dean losing his own person was perhaps harder to witness.

Rowena to the rescue

When Sam was held up by the Loughlins when he unsuccessfully tried to get them to break the spell, Rowena rescued him, keeping her temporary charge, Dean, inside the Impala. She left enough instructions for him to pick up a gun with witch-killing bullets, which he used to shoot dead the Loughlin siblings.

The centuries-old witch was then able to reverse the hex Gideon put on Dean, allowing the elder Winchester to regain his memory, save for any of the events that happened while he was under the spell. Sam thanked Rowena, telling her they owed her for her help. However, he took the Loughlin’s family spell book from her before she left.

Although he previously said it was hard for him to watch Dean lose his memory, Sam admitted that he was jealous of his brother for forgetting all the things they had done even for a moment. Dean told him that while it was nice not to remember the bad things in his life, he also forgot the good things and everything in between. And so he would rather remember everything, even the painful ones, than forget the good ones.

In a montage, Dean was shown riding a mechanical bull with wild abandon the night he was cursed. It was just how the waitress in the bar described it.

‘Regarding Dean’ review

The episode appeared to be a mirror of season 4 episode 6 episode “Yellow Fever,” in which Dean was struck with a strange affliction that made him become fearful of almost everything. But unlike the earlier episode, “Regarding Dean” saw him only baffled by, not exactly afraid of, the supernatural entities surrounding them.

When the teaser was released online earlier this week, it seemed it was going to be as hilarious as “Yellow Fever.” “Regarding Dean” had its funny moments, sure, but it wasn’t all that. That one brief scene in the bathroom with Dean attempting to fight memory loss was heartbreaking.

Sam put it best when he said it was painful to watch Dean become “not him.” Dean, a reliable macho guy’s guy, was losing himself, and it was a dismal sight.

And regarding the funny bits, they weren’t anything close to or even as unforgettable as the season 4 episode. They were at best chuckle-worthy.

Rowena, who started as an annoying – albeit hard to beat – villainess, has increasingly becoming an antihero as her character progresses, just like her king of hell son, Crowley (Mark Sheppard). She’s still manipulative and self-serving, but – again like Crowley – she proved to be a strong ally to the Winchesters whenever their goals align.

“Supernatural” season 12 episode 11 aired Thursday in the US on The CW. The show airs two episodes behind on Monday on Eleven in Australia.