NorthernShinigami: About "The End"
Okay, even I agree there was definitely something in there between future-Casand future Dean, and i'm not even refering to the orgy scene. We know that that was an alternative universe and not exactly our-Dean's real future-world, so Future-Dean could be not-as-straight, and might have lost it after Sam said yes to Lucifer. I imagin he needed comfort at some point and after Castiel lost it with the drinking and the drugs they, uh, ended in bed together? Or the rag, who knows. But honestly? I think it's the director's attempt to screw with the fangirl's minds.
"An attempt to screw with our brains" is the most plausible explanation. The authors and makers of the show are caught between the devil and the deep blue sea. They have to appease the wide audience that doesn't want a homosexual relationship and the shippers who want this relationship so bad. I think that an alternate universe is a perfect excuse to explore this relationship. It is perfectly safe for two reasons:
1. Anything that happens in any other episogode is bound to have consequences in next episodes. "The End" is a somewhat freestanding mini-movie. The events of 1st to 3rd August 2014 could influence the events of the main timeline to a very limited extent: only by what Dean remembered. It gives the authors much leeway.
2. If anyone finds "The End" too twisted or too out-of character, SPN authors can justify nearly anything by claiming that it is just a vision produced by Zacchariah, who simply gets a couple of things wrong because he doesn't understand humans.
The theory that it is "the director's attempt to screw with the fangirls' minds" seems plausible for a very good reason. Let me list the pieces of evidence that Dean and Castiel are a couple in the croatoan endverse. You shall see that these "breadcrumbs" are really tiny, but add up to a pretty convincing picture once you gather them all. It's almost like the director wants to make Destiel canon, but he has to hide the evidence so that only the most eager fans can find it.
*All the credit for the observations listed below goes to Lurea from tumblr and her 'Future!Dean and Cas are lovers and the whole camp knows it!'*
1. A pretty messed up situation.
Past!Dean escapes and wanders Camp Chitaqua looking for his future counterpart, followed by Cas. He meets Future!Dean right after he gets back to the camp an shoots Yager, who has been infected with the croatoan virus. Everyone witness the confrontation between two Deans. Future!Dean points roughly in Past!Dean's direction and says: "I'm not gonna lie to you. Me and him? It's a pretty messed up situation we've got going." Everyone follows the direction where their leader is pointing and... they do not look at Past!Dean, but somewhere behind him, over his shoulder. He notices it; he turns around to check what they are looking at and he sees Castiel, who seems upset and embarrassed. The camera focuses on Cas's face for a while.
Why is that so? Why does everyone look at Castiel? Why do they assume that Dean was talking about him?
They have exactly the same reason as Chuck (see below). Everyone in Camp Chitaqua knows that Dean had a huge fight with his lover the previous day. That's why Chuck felt the need to comfort his friend. They are worried, because Dean is very impulsive; moreover, Castiel is not only Dean's lover, but also his second in command. A breakup in the 'royal family' would most probably destabilize the life in Camp Chitaqua, so the leader's personal life pretty much concerns everyone. That's why it's a "pretty messed up situation".
Why don't they think that the fuss is about Past!Dean? Simply because they don't know it is Past!Dean. Future!Dean assumes that his people know what he knows; indeed, they'd freak out if they knew. He forgets that people can't read minds or magically know about events they didn't witness. Whenever they are confronted with a new situation, they seek the most reasonable explanation: in this case they assume that the new guy is Dean's twin. Identical twins are not a rarity. The information that their leader has a brother could be interesting, but it's certainly not threatening.
Why does the camera focus on Cas? Why does the director make sure that we don't overlook it? I think that this scene works like a key to a cipher: a small piece of information that allows you to decipher the whole message. The scene is short and insignificant, so a not-shipper is likely to ignore it. Still, the director made sure to make this scene is pretty unambigous, so that shippers can get their key and start deciphering the rest of the episode.
2. Chuck comforts Dean
When Past!Dean is looking for Cas and meets Chuck, the prophet is not surprised by his question "Is Cas still around?"; he expresses sympathy and support. The most convincing explanation is that Future!Dean and Cas had a big fight the previous day - so big that Dean thinks that Cas has finaly had enough and left him. Chuck assumes that the fearless leader doesn't have the guts to look for his lover and apologize, but tries to find out how the land lies by a pseudo-casual chat with Chuck. The prophet uses the same pseudo-casual code to convey a very powerful message: Cas isn't going anywhere. No matter what you do, he'll never leave you.
3. Dean and Cas live together.
Many fans think that Dean lives in this small, messy cabin in which he cuffed PastDean and where they later gathered to discuss the details of the mission. It's not his dwelling. It's an arsenal and a meeting hall. There's no bed there; the whole building is small and extremely messy. Even Dean isn't that sloppy. Moreover, Risa is angry because Dean slept in Jane's cabin. Would Dean sleep in a girl's bed if he could invite her to his own secluded cabin?
The cabin where Past!Dean interrupts Cas's love-guruing is the leader's 'palace'. It's significantly bigger than others. There is a tap labeled 'Drinking Water' on the porch: it's highly probable that it's the only tap with drinking water in the whole camp - otherwise why would it be labeled? If we agree that it's the only source of clean water in the camp then obviously it has to be near the leader's cabin. Moreover, there is a jacket that looks suspiciously like Dean's large, baggy, denim jackets on the coat hanger and a movie poster on the wall. It seems that Cas decorated their house in his own tacky style (remember the golden Lincoln? Cas is a sucker for glitz), but he let Dean have a piece of his own "man cave" in one corner.
Moreover, we can see that Cas's style underwent a strange evolution. In Camp Chitaqua he is wearing a cotton indian shirt that perfectly fits his new guru style. Still, during the mission in Kansas Cas looks like he's copied Dean's hunter's-military style. What's even more thought-provoking, his jeans are jacket are too large. Why is that so? Perhaps fitting clothes are hard to come by during the Apocalypse, but everyone else seems to be able to find the right size. Castiel is simply wearing Dean's clothes; or, more probably, their clothes. Hands up if you are in a same-sex relationship and you gave up remembering which clothes are whose years ago.
4. Cas is being seductive.
Dean walks in on Cas explaining that the key to 'total, shared perception is surprisingly physical'. The angel is visibly thrilled to see him there (most probably because they had a fight and he thinks that Dean came to apologize). He instantly asks the girls to leave: he is about to have a serious conversation with his lover, not a casual chat. He also tries to encourage Dean and convey that he is no longer angry. When Cas says "you are all so beautiful" he looks at the exiting girls at first, but then his gaze falls on Dean, who is still standing in the doorway. Later, Cas stands up and stretches his back, exposing it to Dean in a very sexual way and... moaning. Does it sound like "all right, all right, you learned your lesson, now let's have makeup sex" to you?
5. A hippie.
Dean asks "What are you, a hippie?". He most probably means drugs and free love, but Lurea claims that in some very hermetic subcultures "hippie" means "straight".
What's more interesting, Castiel replies "I thought you gotten over trying to label me". Using the word 'label' in this context suggests that Cas could mean his sexuality. Perhaps they've talked about it. Perhaps Dean had a hard time accepting his own bisexuality (men often do not accept bisexuality at all, they think that one can be either 'normal' or 'gay') , so he was confused as to Cas's sexuality as well. Perhaps Cas is annoyed, because Dean is going over and over the subject due to his insecurities (we all know that Dean is in fact one big walking talking insecurity) which make him constantly try to trick Castiel into assuring that he's not going to chose a woman over Dean.
6. You are not you.
Woah, strange. Why does Cas recognize Dean by looking at his lower abdomen or crotch? Non-erotic explaination: He knows Dean's body so well that he notices that Past!Dean is chubbier than Future!Dean or he doesn't recognize the clothes Past!Dean is wearing. Either of this explanations suggests that Cas and Dean are really, really close.
7. Changed lines
You probably know that the original script included Cas saying:
"But instead, we become this. The only thing that I think we have left, Dean and me, is each other. (unadorned sincerity) If Dean says it's time to go out in a blaze of glory, win or lose, so be it. I'm in. But then…(smiles easily at Dean) That's just how I roll."
I suspect that this piece of dialogue might have even been recorded. When you watch the episode, you'll notice that the cut between "Why not bang a few gongs before the lights go out" (censored, new version) and "that's just how I roll" (a part of original script) is rough, unnatural and, pardon my French, sh*ty. The lighting is different, sound quality is different, Cas's voice is different. You can clearly see that the whole sequence is a montage of two scenes that were recorded on two different occasions. If the crew had to remake this scene, why not film it properly? Why leave this strange offcut? Perhaps it's a part of the hidden message. Perhaps someone wanted the fans to notice the difference so that we remember that the new, censored lines should not be taken into consideration.
Personalny I don't think that it's screwing with fangirls' minds. I'd rather say that it's a gift: an episode that practially makes Deastiel canon. Is it not what we want?
I think I'll add one or two chapters soon. Season 11 is getting more and more exciting for shippers every episode and I noticed a couples of interesting scenes that I'd like to talk about, so stay tuned! Remember that this work is never complete as long as you want to take part in the discussion :)