Freezer Dean

Freezer Dean, alternatively Freezer Burned Dean or Deansicle, is a fandom joke that Sam should have gotten a freezer to preserve Dean's body in order to have a funeral service with others in attendance. It also refers to the fandom discourse event on Twitter in January 2023.

History

On January 6, 2023, twitter user @rose_a87 posted a picture from 15.20 Carry On of Dean's funeral pyre with Sam and Miracle in attendance, along with Dean's quote from 11.23 Alpha and Omega: "OK, look. I want a big funeral. All right? I'm talking epic. OK? Open bar, choir, Sabbath cover band, and Gary Busey reading the eulogy". The implication is that Sam did not honor Dean's wishes for a funeral.

This resulted in fandom discourse. Those that supported the notion criticized Sam for not respecting Dean's wishes and for being selfish. Other fans pushed back, criticizing the notion that Sam should have postponed handling Dean's body for an undetermined amount of time for a service. Some pointed out that nearly everyone who was close to them was already dead. Some alternatively pointed out that a funeral pyre can be separate from a memorial service, which may have still happened off-screen (and would not have been able to be filmed due to COVID restricting group shots at the time), and that other hunter funerals were also done alone and separate from a service.

On January 8, 2023, twitter user @cryptonomicon30 suggested that Sam should have rented a freezer to preserve Dean's body:

There are freezers to rent. Just saying, if he had wanted he could have done it. But like I said he never thought about Dean's friends and acquaintances, actually he always presumed there were none just because he wasn't bothered to know.

This prompted a series of jokes about the ridiculousness of Sam keeping Dean's body in a freezer. Fans also used the hashtags #FreezerBurnedDean and #FreezerDean.

Fan jokes

Quotes and commentary

• "Dean partying at his funeral 🕺" with a gif from The Shining of Jack Torrance frozen in the snow - @DeeMacNY, Jan 8, 2023.
• "Hope Sam can find a giant ziplock bag so Dean doesn’t get freezer burn" - @nothingb4u, Jan 8, 2023.
• "Imagine sam showing on [Jody]'s house with his brother in a freezer saying hello let's party it's my brother well ......" - @TIMTAE12, Jan 8, 2023.
• "I just hope Sam gets a good brand of freezer. I don’t want to see the repairman’s face." - @Laura_WalkerSPN, Jan 8, 2023.
• "so (get this): dean was… fridged" - @cordyliam, Jan 9, 2023.
• "Blurrywife does the grocery shopping bc Sam would always break down into tears whenever he passed the freezer isle😔" - @Jessie_Jareau, Jan 9, 2023.
• "I think Sam could have stored Dean in my office today. 🥶🥶🥶" - @abeautifulswan, Jan 9, 2023.

Buying/renting the freezer:

• "Sam on the local Reddit an hour after Dean’s death: “Looking for a freezer to borrow. Size not important but probably big enough for a side of beef.”" - @imamirisq, Jan 8, 2023.
• "sam: uh yeah hey do you have an approximately 6 foot freezer cool uh yeah can you deliver it to my secret underground bunker I need it asap thank you so much" - @jpadlovely, Jan 8, 2023.
• "Sam: I'd like to buy a freezer to store my dead brother in, please Salesperson: uhh, sure... do you prefer a chest freezer or an upright model? *secretly dials 911* Sam: oh, the upright model would be great, Dean was adamant about dying on his feet..." - @Magdalena5880, Jan 8, 2023.
• "Sam could buy an ice cream truck and prop Dean up in the window on bathroom breaks" - @kelios, Jan 8, 2023.
• "If you rent a freezer, do they charge you extra when you return it smelling like a dead body had been stored in it?" "This is a very good question. I hope Sam read the fine print on the mobile freezer rental agreement carefully" - @Sam_Maddy and @DeeMacNY, Jan 8, 2023.
• "I think the real question here is food truck or ice cream truck? #FreezerBurnedDean" - @eeisaHoodle, Jan 8, 2023.

Thawing Dean:

• "Dean when Sam removes him from the freezer to thaw" with an image from The Shining of Jack Torrance frozen in the snow - @ms_spitfire_, Jan 8, 2023.
• "Say that Sam got the damm freezer, how long before he should let Dean's body out to thaw before he barbecues his brother in a public spectacle fashion for the extras? I mean found family? Enquiring minds want to know..." - @ms_spitfire_, Jan 8, 2023.
• "So my comment on the freezer Dean thing, is how long does it take to thaw him for his funeral pyre or does he get tossed on there frozen? What are the consequences of trying to burn a solidly frozen Dean?" - @MaeveBran, Jan 10, 2023.
  • "follow-up question, if the body was actually frozen (vs lightly chilled) how are they gonna get him out of the freezer" - @demondoyle, Jan 10, 2023.
  • "he could just put dean’s body in a very large microwave" - @angelxperiments, Jan 10, 2023.
  • "Well, if he had been frozen too long, he might have gotten freezer burn and that would cause nasty sparks. On the other hand, if Sam thaws him out first he might be soggy and won’t burn well at all. This is truly a dilemma!" - @joniandpeter, Jan 10, 2023.

Sam keeps freezer Dean around long term:

• "Do you think Sam would take Dean out of the freezer sometimes and sit him on the table and cook something for him. Or maybe he’ll take him on hunts. 🤔" - @proudofjarpad. Jan 9, 2023.
  • "Maybe the blurry wife was just Freezer Dean😂😂😂" - @samuletisback, Jan 9, 2023.
  • "What if the blurry wife is Dean in a wig propped up against the pillar?" - @DV_JaredFan, Jan 9, 2023.
• "Sam just has 2 rent a freezer van & then he can finally tour the US, with Dean's frozen corpse in the back, straight 2 all of these close friends of Deans.😂 It will be the new Ice capades!❄ Dean!Sticle will be available for all 2 get 2 say a proper & cold farewell.👍💙🥶" - @MillaJ1992, Jan 8, 2023.
• "It's been 30 years and Sam still can't make the fucking funeral because no one of Dean's friends seem to be free the same fucking day" - @Kamidiox, Jan 8, 2023.
• "Someone needs to write the Sam keeping Dean in a freezer fic. He could take him along for hunts. Introduce him to any new friends he makes. Dean Jr could occasionally push his frozen uncle in a wagon...." - @tammy_ren, Jan 8, 2023.

Sam's family life:

• "Sam’s blurry wife the first time she came to visit" with a gif of someone opening a freezer and being startled by unseen contents - @nothingb4u, Jan 8, 2023.
• "sam's wife went blurry bc she didn't wanna be associated with the weird freezer in the corner of the winchester house" - @mardybumps, Jan 8, 2023.
• "Who needs pictures when Dean Jr can just see his uncle and name sake everytime he goes to get dinner out of the FREEZER" - @walkerdads, Jan 8, 2023.
• "if sam’s codependent ass put dean’s body in a freezer he would never salt and burn that corpse. he’d be living his life with blurry wife and dean jr. w some shit like this in the garage" with an image edit (from The Walking Dead) of closed doors reading "Don't open, Dean inside" by @angelxperiments, Jan 8, 2023.
• "if sam put dean’s body in a freezer he never would’ve burned dean’s body and then one day when he felt dean jr was old enough he’d take him to some walk-in freezer in the basement and be like “it’s time to meet your uncle, bud.” let’s be real here" - @samcaswnchr, Jan 9, 2023.

Food/cannibalism:

• "Well, Sam has a Deansicle in the Bunker." "So you’re saying, dessert??" - @Laura_WalkerSPN and @JuliaAlterEgo, Jan 8, 2023.
• "Sam with his Deansickle" with a picture of Jared nearly licking Jensen - @JuliaAlterEgo, Jan 8, 2023.
• "A turDeankin if you will 😬" following a gif of a horribly-cooked turkey and Cordell Walker (portrayed by Jared Padalecki) having dinner with the family - @rynelson2, Jan 8, 2023.
• "TurDeankin with Deansicle is currently on the menu" - @rynelson2, Jan 8, 2023.
• "there's a "dead dean, do not eat" joke in there somewhere" - @rowwyaboat, Jan 8, 2023.
• "There's definitely a joke here somewhere about a lunchtime snack 🤔" "Deansicle?" - @Prodigalsonfan3 and @abeautifulswan, Jan 9, 2023.
• "I was away from Twitter for like four hours today and the SPN fandom got *this* close to incestuous cannibalism talk." - @bhorton314, Jan 8, 2023.
• "can't believe you've got me thinking about samdean cannibilism. sam so insane with grief that, while keeping dean in the freezer ready for their *beautiful wake*, he decides he wants to consume him so he's with him forever? OKAY" - @rowwyaboat, Jan 8, 2023.

J2 related:

• "#WeLoveYouJaredPadalecki and no reason is ever needed for that. Please do not notice #FreezerBurnedDean" - @imamirisq, Jan 8, 2023.
• "Someone ask Jared next week why Sam didn't rent a freezer to keep his brother there so he could throw a party at Dean's funeral 😆" - @samuletisback, Jan 8, 2023.
• "Pls someone ask Jensen if dean would have wanted Sam to get a freezer to keep him in" - @walkerdads, Jan 8, 2023.
• "If y’all don’t ask j2 about Sam putting dean in a freezer I will at my con" - @walkerdads, Jan 9, 2023.
• "Someone better ask Jared about the freezer this weekend!!! 😂😂😂" - @texasrangering, Jan 9, 2023.
• "Someone bring up the freezer discourse to j2 next con I'm begging you" - @samthepriority, Jan 9, 2023.

Fanart and image edits

• Fanart/edit: Dean in a freezer on top of the Impala, "Sam on his way to take Dean home to give him the funeral he deserves" by @proudofjarpad, Jan 8, 2023.
• Fanart/edit: "Dean chilling in the fridge like" by @proudofjarpad, Jan 8, 2023.
• Fanart/edit: Sam and Freezer Dean poster for "Supernatural season 16 🥶❄️🧊" by @proudofjarpad, Jan 9, 2023.
• Fanart/drawn: Sam gets Dean a bigger freezer "in case something happens to Miracle" by @sammyshellhound, Jan 9, 2023.
• Fanart/drawn: Sam going freezer shopping, "Do you think it's big enough to fit a body?" by @sammyshellhound, Jan 9, 2023.
• Fanart/drawn: Sam at Dean's funeral with freezer Dean, "I'm glad you could all make it" by @sammyshellhound, Jan 9, 2023.
• Gif: Dean with the caption "The cold never bothered me anyway" by @SamIsIt4Dean, Jan 8, 2023.
• Fanart/edit: "happy birthday dean love sammy 💖" with a party hat on a freezer and a birthday pie by @brosimping, Jan 24, 2023 (Dean's birthday).

Other

• Fanfic: A Frozen Hunter by blackrose_17 on AO3. Summary: "Instead of doing the sane thing, Sam rents a freezers to keep Dean with him." Posted Jan 8, 2023.
• Poll: "Where did Sam shop for Dean’s meat bag freezer?" by @padataytay, Jan 8, 2023. Results: "Home Depot" had 29.9%, "Lowe’s" had 14.6%, "Best Buy" had 9.7%, and "Dean’s WHAT?" had 45.8%.
• Game: "Since I’m still having fun with the freezer thing… let’s play a game. Comment or quote with an spn episode and replace one word with “freezer” I’ll go first “Dead in the freezer” ☠️❄️" - -https://twitter.com/proudofjarpad/status/1613119556964212736 @proudofjarpad]