While Dean is still drinking a lot by normal standards, in his conversation with Lisa about their time together he says something along the lines of "I was drinking too much", which to me means he is now drinking less than he was. I'm not saying Dean is a reliable narrator about this, but I do think it is less of a problem after a year than it was in the beginning. To some degree, Sam and Bobby's plan was working, and Dean was recovering, even though he was a LONG way from what would be normal for most people.

eta (I got very delayed in posting this, so I didn't see Marcia's post.

I guess I think the normal standards don't really apply to the Hunters.

To some degree, Sam and Bobby's plan was working, and Dean was recovering

Lisa and Dean's first exchange of the premiere was the last of the finale, right? And he looked dubious and lost right there too.

I think having Ben as a responsibility and Lisa as support was good for him. I'm not sure it was better for him than being with Sam, though. What was he to recover from, exactly, that he couldn't recover from with Sam? Most of his pain, in my estimation was the lack of Sam, and whereas he was drinking beforehand because of the stress of having to save the world (and perhaps still PTSD from hell), I'm sure he was drinking now to not have to deal with his failure to do right by his brother.

I'm not saying Dean is a reliable narrator about this, but I do think it is less of a problem after a year than it was in the beginning

I do agree with this. There's no way he could sustain a day job and the amount of drinking he had been doing, I'm pretty sure. But he still looked like he was a tumbler of hard liquor over the line--I'm kinda reminded of WIAWNSB, and the frequent appearance of beer in his hands, and the implication that he was overdoing it then too--this was made stronger for me when dream!YED mentioned his lawn.

Marcia, is your post alcoholic, or functioning alcoholic?

While Dean is still drinking a lot by normal standards, in his conversation with Lisa about their time together he says something along the lines of "I was drinking too much", which to me means he is now drinking less than he was. I'm not saying Dean is a reliable narrator about this, but I do think it is less of a problem after a year than it was in the beginning. To some degree, Sam and Bobby's plan was working, and Dean was recovering, even though he was a LONG way from what would be normal for most people.

Right. AND? Since his late night drinking was done from a glass, not directly from the bottle, I think Dean's come a long way baby.

Having watched before reading the commentary here, I have to say that the drinking did not jump out at me.

I'm a little on the fence about the Campbells. They were annoying, but I think there's some potential there. Also, I do NOT trust Samuel, charmer though he is, and there's part of me that's wondering if Azazel somehow set him up as an escape hatch (and how fabulous was it to see Lehne again?)

I thought some of the writing and acting showed some early season stiffness and a sense that the writers and actors were feeling their way into the arc. That said, I like the mystery of why various nasties are acting up out of character and what brought Sam and Samuel back.

Also, I really hope we get something equivalent to "I Know What You Did Last Summer," in which we see what Sam was up to during that year. In the moment before he rejected the offer of the Impala, I almost got the idea of him thinking what it was like during the time when Dean was in Hell (as opposed to now, when Dean is away in a 'domestic paradise.')

I kind of get the idea that when Sam got back, he would have waited to see if he could find out what brought him back before going after Dean. Then, seeing that Dean had a life much like the one Sam had wanted for himself once upon a time, decided that absence was the kinder option.

Huh. I did my first watch.

Huh.

Reading through here has definitely helped some of my confusions by giving me possible explanations. I definitely love the idea of the breaking glass in the title card and us seeing things "through the looking glass". Good job buffistas!

I'm along for the ride. That was never really in doubt though. Something is off though so I guess I'm waiting to see how that plays out.

I've only seen it once, but I found myself wondering through most of it if something more was going to be part of the djinn halucination. I kept waiting for Dean to wake up again and dreading that moment.

I buy Bobby's explanation. He was sincere in his reasoning and delivery. Something is off with Gramps though. Something is off with Sam as well. With Sam, it might just be PTSD. I'm waiting to see how this plays out.

Okay, now for a second watch.

I think I agree with Amy and I think it's an addiction that's not impairing his day-to-day routine, but he needs to drink to maintain it.

This is my take on it as well.

I TOTALLY read that look as an evil, I'm-reeling-him-in-and-playing-him look. It wasn't happy, or comforted, or homey, or awkard -- it looked smug, and pleased. This is one of the many things leading me to the "not emotionally traumed out by Hell" but "there somethin ain't RIGHT with this boy" and "Is it really SAM in thar?"

This is where I'm not sure I totally trust Jared to have given Sam the right expression to express what was going on. He looked at one point in the room full of Campbells like he was about to crack up and I wonder if there aren't sometimes meta reasons for his expressions.

ehab, you skimmer!

Whoops! I did miss the link. I like Mo's take on things. I'm stearing clear of the TWoP recaps. Demian is too bitter for me.

I think Dean definitely using booze as a coping mechanism, but I don't judge him for it. I think it's pretty damned understandable, given his life.

I think sometimes his reliance on it goes up and down, depending on circumstances, but drinking is, IMO, pretty far down on the list of shit that's wrong with him. I don't think he's living to drink. He's for sure using it to numb himself down, but...well, dude, his life has SUCKED. Sure, it would be better for him to take a nice jog or journal or talk to a shrink, but really. Not gonna happen at this point in his life.

I think there's a difference between drinking a little too much, a little too often, especially since Dean lives basically, as a soldier, and being a functional alcoholic. Might be a SLIM diff, but still.

Marcia, is your post alcoholic, or functioning alcoholic?

I'm trying to consider if Dean is addicted to alcohol or dependent on it. Does he have a physical craving and a mental obsession for it? Or does it to help him to minimize/endure the nightmares and to sleep better?

Having had an alcoholic as an in-law (a completely non-functioning one) and a best friend's dad who was one (an entirely functioning one), I'm having a hard time putting Dean and "alcoholic" in the same sentence.

From the AA Big Book, page 20:

"Then we have a certain type of hard drinker. He may have the habit badly enough to gradually impair him physically and mentally. It may cause him to die a few years before his time. If a sufficiently strong reason--ill health, falling in love, change of environment, or the warning of a doctor--becomes operative, this man can also stop or moderate, although he may find it difficult and troublesome and may even need medical attention.

"But what about the real alcoholic? He may start off as a moderate drinker; he may or may not become a continuous hard drinker; but at some stage of his drinking career he begins to lose all control of his liquor consumption, once he starts to drink."

If I thought Dean was an alcoholic, I wouldn't call him (or anyone) post-alcoholic, because once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic. There's no "post". But there is "recovered", meaning clean and sober.

I would put Dean in the hard drinker category as described above, as that's where I think he fits better, especially if he can drink in moderation now.

I agree, Morgana. I've had alcoholic close family members and friends; I see a difference.

ETA:

Could Dean become an alcoholic? Oh, yeah, I can definitely see that as a strong possibility, dependent on life. He's at HUGE risk. (I'm not talking season plot-point, per se; just in general.)