What Is and What Should Never Be (Supernatural)

The episode begins in an abandoned warehouse, where Dean (Ackles) is attacked by the djinn that he is hunting. He suddenly finds himself in a world in which his mother (Smith) was not killed by the demon Azazel. He and his brother Sam (Jared Padalecki) were not raised to be hunters of supernatural creatures, but are no longer close, as Dean is irresponsible, disloyal, and drinks too much in this alternate reality; when a confused Dean calls him for help, Sam thinks that he is drunk. In the new reality, Dean is dating the beautiful Carmen Porter (Michelle Borth), and Sam is at law school and engaged to Jessica (Palicki)—another victim of Azazel. Although Dean enjoys his new life, a ghostly young woman seems to be haunting him and he is confronted by an image of corpses in his closet. He realizes that all the people that he and Sam had saved as hunters are now dead, that he and Sam have a distant and somewhat adversarial relationship. After visiting the grave of his father John, who died the previous year of a stroke, Dean decides that he must give up his new-found happiness to save them. In need of something silver—an inherent weakness of the djinn—Dean breaks into their mother's house to steal a sterling silver knife. However, he is caught by Sam, who believes Dean is stealing from their mother. Initially, Dean pretends to need the knife to settle a gambling debt, but eventually, he admits the truth. Although Sam is skeptical, he agrees to accompany his brother to the djinn's warehouse lair. There Dean discovers that the young woman he has been having visions of is a victim of the djinn. She is alive but in an hallucinatory state—a way for the djinn to keep its victims unresisting while it feeds—Dean realizes that he, too, is within an illusory world. Knowing that a person wakes up if he or she dies in a dream, he decides to kill himself. Carmen, Jessica, and his mother appear and try to talk him out of it. Dean resists the urge to stay, and awakens in the real world after stabbing himself. Sam, who is already in the warehouse trying to rescue him, is attacked by the djinn, but Dean kills the creature. ==Production==

Writing Series creator Eric Kripke's first experience as director was slated for the twentieth episode of the season, and Raelle Tucker was scheduled to pen it. Kripke wanted a script that was as "director-proof as possible", He shot down every idea the writers pitched to him until Tucker suggested an alternate reality episode. Drawing inspiration from the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode "Normal Again", Kripke was excited by the concept. He felt Dean's definitive moment was the death of his mother Mary, so the "diversion path" of the new reality would be based on the question, "What if mom never died?" This change allows Sam and Dean to live normal lives, though at the cost of their relationship. The point of the false reality, in Kripke's opinion, was to show that the brothers would not be close if they had not become hunters. The staff tried to persuade him to remove this aspect, but he thought it would be "lame" for Sam and Dean to have a "7th Heaven relationship". To avoid the typical portrayal of genies in popular culture—such as those from Aladdin and I Dream of Jeannie—they chose to create a "logical twist on the lore" by making the creature vampiric. Lindala found the tattoos to be a "particular challenge" because they were "intricate designs". The production schedule could not accommodate the six hours needed to apply the makeup each day, so the actor was booked with the condition that the make-up not be removed for four days. As of production of the fourth season, the episode has been his favorite one to score. Lennertz used a solo bassoon for the emotional scenes in the alternate reality rather than the cello he normally uses for Sam and Dean's relationship. He noted that it "set a very interesting lead tone for the episode". Following the series' tradition, the episode also featured rock songs. ==Reception==

In its original broadcast, "What Is and What Should Never Be" was viewed by an estimated 3.11 million viewers, one of the lowest ratings for the season. Conversely, writer Raelle Tucker won the Constellation Award for "Best Overall 2007 Science Fiction Film or Television Script" for her work on the episode, and the episode garnered positive reviews from critics. Tina Charles of TV Guide "adored" the episode, and considered it to be Jensen Ackles' best performance of the series. She experienced an "emotional roller coaster the entire hour", finding Dean's monologue at his father's grave to be "crushing" but the lawnmower scene to be "hilarious". Likewise, Diana Steenbergen of IGN gave the episode a rating of 9.2 out of 10, praising the quick pace, "heavy" character development, and "ton and a half of angst". She, too, felt that Ackles "hits the ball out of the park", and noted that the episode's humor stemmed from Ackles' willingness to be a "big goofball". Actresses Samantha Smith and Adrianne Palicki were "a treat", although Steenbergen would have liked Jeffrey Dean Morgan to return. Tom Burns of UGO deemed the episode as "one of the strongest hours of Supernatural all season", feeling that "the actors really stepped up their game...and sold every moment". He also noted the "unapologetically emotional" Ackles, who "[wore] his joy, sadness, and anxiety all over this face, but always [kept] things real and in character". Though Burns believed that "wish-world" stories have been overused in fiction, he felt that Ackles' "hardcore acting chops" allowed the episode to "escape from mediocrity". The "outstanding" and "well crafted" episode was given a 7 out of 7 by TV Squad's Brett Love. He considered the djinn as "one of the better representations" of genies in popular culture, and noted that the creature had the "perfect creepy look to it". He was pleased to see Smith and Palicki return, and found the character of Carmen to be "a nice addition to the family". Don Williams of BuddyTV agreed, and ranked the episode third in his list of the best episodes of the first three seasons. Deeming it the best standalone episode, he noted that it "can be embraced by anyone who enjoys clever writing, great acting, or a shirtless Jensen Ackles". ==References==