I guess this might be what Sera Gamble meant when she was talking about this season being "noir." Maybe Dean is supposed to be the protagonist in the middle of a situation where he knows nothing is what it seems and he knows everyone is lying to him, but he doesn't yet know what they're lying about or why, and he can't let on that he suspects anything. I don't know. I really think your "elaborately silly" is a more succinct way to sum up the current state of affairs.