Leave it Alone, Sammy
Let’s begin with a discussion on Sam’s soul. First, I was kind of surprised how….well, easily….he was able to get over the memories of Hell. I’m assuming then, that he merely ‘scratched’at the wall, as opposed to cracking it open completely. The question, of course, is whether it will still hold and how much digging into his past Sam can continue to do.
In this case, Dean is 100% correct. Sam needs to lay off on the trip down memory lane. God knows we all know Sam’s capacity for guilt, but nothing good will come from trying to remember the things he did while he was soulless. And not only that, but it threatens his sanity, and quite possibly his life. If he really wants to make things up to Dean in particular, he should do everything he can to ensure he remains soulless and in his brother’s life. For everything else, he can just go around randomly apologizing to people in case he wronged them somehow. But Sammy needs to stop jeopardizing his sanity, because I can’t take it if he goes crazy again.
The “Perfect” Family
Now let’s move on to what I think was the most important part of the episode: the business with Ben and Lisa. Ben made a point that I can’t help but disagree with: that he and Lisa are Dean’s family and he’s being horrible for leaving them.
Let me make it clear that I like Ben and Lisa and have since their first appearance in season 3. But at no time did I ever believe that they really belonged in Dean’s life. I think that Dean liked the idea of them more than he actually loved them. Don’t get me wrong, I believe he does love them, but I don’t think they’ll ever be his family the way that Sam (and even Bobby) is. I think Dean yearns for a ‘real/normal’family because family is the most important thing in his life and because a normal life was something he never really had. But the truth is, being a hunter – and hunting with Sam – is his real life and he will never be able to escape it. I think he went to Lisa and Ben after Sam went to Hell because his brother asked him to, and because he was so despondent he didn’t know what else to do.
In the season 5 finale Chuck said that after Sam went into Hell, all Dean wanted to do was get him back or die, but he had made a promise to his brother to try and live a normal life, so he did. When Sam returned, he told them that what he really wanted the past year was for his brother to be alive. In some respects, Dean is right. He can’t be a hunter and live a normal life, not necessarily because hunting makes him a bad/dangerous person like he thinks, but because he really does need to break the whole ‘turning your kids into hunters’cycle that the Campbells and John perpetuated. He can’t have Ben turn out like him, because it’s not an ideal life to lead, especially since Ben won’t have a brother like Sam to share it with.
Sam is Dean’s real family. Their relationship is probably way too co-dependent for their own good, and I can understand Dean’s frustrations at their continued bad luck, but playing house with Lisa and Ben would never have worked, because that’s not the life he was meant to have, and he will never love anyone like he loves his brother. That’s just my two cents, folks. What do you think? Can Dean ever really have a normal life? Could Ben and Lisa be all the family he needs?
Next week is the crazy meta episode where Sam and Dean find themselves transported into an alternate reality where they’re actually actors on a TV show called Supernatural. Check out an awesome and hilarious trailer for the episode here and promo photos here.
And check out the list we posted earlier today of our favorite Supernatural villains.
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Out of the mouth babes. Ben was absolutely correct in his assessment of the situation. I think Dean can have a family and Sam in his life too. He loves them and they might be the only sane link Sam and Dean can have in their lives. I believe at the end of the series we will find Sam and Dean having earned that piece of happiness. I for one am thank full the door remains open.
Out of the mouth of babes. I actually agree with Ben. They are family. He loves them and this time he said it. I realize Dean thinks he is wrong for them, which is understandable, but they love him, even when he is a di*k. The door was left open, and I am so glad that it was. By the end of this series , I think the boys will have earned a slice of happiness. Sam and Dean will always be important to one another, but they need more.
I absolutely love the Glee comment from Dean about puking in his mouth. Quite a good episode, but I agree with the music complaint. Bring back the good ol' classic rock, I'm talking Rush, AC/DC, Kansas, etc.!
I think it was just a tiny crack and a relatively small glimpse into Hell, yet it was enough to send Sam into convulsions, knock him cold, and give him a Hell-hangover migraine like nobody's business. I think for Dean's sake he'll stop digging but either a) once it's cracked there's no goin' back or b) in the future they'll need some key information locked in Sam's memory and he'll have to dig for the greater good.
It makes me sad about Ben and Lisa. They love Dean and he loves them, but I don't think they can truly accept the real Dean… Dean the Hunter and all the crap that comes with that. And Dean doesn't want them to have to.