Dean […] is grumpy and slow to wake up, stretching and creaking and rubbing his eyes with the back of his hands, a waking-up gesture that is so compulsive, so who he is, that it shows up repeatedly, and it makes him look either like he is 6-years-old or, well, like an odalisque.
Rubbing your eyes with the heel of your palms is what cowboys and gunslingers do. A tough gesture, you don’t care if you get a little grime in your eyes if you’re a tough guy. Cliche, but true. I have a hard time imagining Clint Eastwood rubbing his eyes with the backs of his hands. It looks like a child-like “boo-boo” type of gesture. It’s palms-facing-out, which is vulnerable. Look for it from Ackles. It shows up repeatedly. It’s one of those gestures that beautifully undercuts the sincerely tough and bossy and aggressive persona of Dean Winchester.