This was the single most difficult Supernatural slide-show I've ever done and will possibly ever do.  Not because I had trouble scouring episodes to find scenes for it, but because I had to make incredibly difficult decisions in deciding which scenes not to include.

I've never made a secret of my particular fondness for Dean Winchester. Not only do I like the character, but I've always said that Jensen Ackles is one of the most criminally underrated actors on television. So while I've done Supernatural slide-shows that have focused on everything from guest stars to villains to hottest Winchester scenes (still my personal favorite!), you had to know this particular slide-show would arrive one day.

Today is that day, clearly.  I've made a point to do themed slide-shows during this season.  Tonight's new episode (the last before a short two week hiatus) features Dean being sent back to 1944, where he has an opportunity to become a member of the Untouchables, thanks to a meeting with Eliot Ness. Dean seems to be the lucky brother when it comes to traveling back in the past (in that he does it more often on his own) and a heavier Dean episode serves as the perfect backdrop to this slide-show's subject matter.

I went through every single Supernatural episode to pick out my favorite and most memorable Dean scenes. Sometimes the scene resonated with me because of Ackles' superb dramatic acting.  Other times it was because of a line or even a look or a joke that Dean made.  My visit through all of the episodes yielded 71 scenes...and I was being critical!  While I know the Dean fans would have happily clicked away, your poor fingers would have fallen off by the end.  So I've tried to scale it back, and even then I agonized over my choices.

Dean Winchester is bold, brash, cocky, stubborn, hilarious, awesome, hot, fierce, protective, in a relationship with his car, obsessed with bad food, occasionally insecure, sporadically promiscuous, and eager to be loved.  He's a complex character with one central maxim at his core: "protect your brother".

HAPPY BIRTHDAY
DEAN WINCHESTER!

Yes, today's my favorite ghost-busting, rock salt-shooting, fire-lovin', smart-ass, drop-dead-gorgeous demon hunter's birthday. :-)

And it had better not be his last! Do you hear me, Kripke??

But just in case, you'd better make it a great one for him, Sammy!

I leave you with this, ladies and gentlemen, a fine example of sex on a stick, that like a fine wine gets better with age....