In some ways, absolutely: Dean wants Sam to be okay. I think, though, that Dean's version of "okay" is substantially different from what he found when he came back, right?
But I think there's a substantial difference between Sam in Mystery Spot and Sam now. Sam in Mystery Spot was an automaton -- a loner, a vigilante, a juggernaut. Sam now isn't that. The keen edge of desperation and rage we SAW in that ep are not noticeably present here. Here we have a Sam who is, if anything, softer in some ways -- he's got a lover, even if she is demonic; he's been social (one reference to seeing a movie over the summer ain't much, but it's revealing); he takes pleasure in things -- something that the earlier MS Sam quite evidently did not.
Those two versions of Sam are strikingly different, you know? You say he's enraged, furious -- but I think that was Sam in Mystery Spot, not our Sam now. This Sam seems rather more integrated into his post-Dean life, very much so -- he has coped and gotten on with it.
So for me -- and your mileage will vary, and that's absolutely legitimate -- I simply don't buy that Sam is insane with grief any longer. Maybe he got that out of his system in Mystery Spot, saw what he could become and did not allow it to happen again. I honestly don't know. But I feel badly for Dean here, and -- as oselle states below -- believe that Dean's reaction of packing up and saying, "Don't need ME anymore," was, well, fairly accurate. I don't believe that Sam NEEDS Dean, at all. Now will he do better with Dean alongside him? Absolutely! Will Dean's insights prove valuable in the long run? Almost certainly. Sam alone is NOT better off than a Sam with his brother at his side.
But Sam alone can and DID function perfectly well, within parameters. It might not have been optimal, I'm certain it was not. But it WAS livable. And that's a stark contrast with Mystery Spot.
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branchandroot
Re: well...sam getting on with his life is what dean WANTED him to do
Date: 2008-11-16 04:58 pm (UTC)But I think there's a substantial difference between Sam in Mystery Spot and Sam now. Sam in Mystery Spot was an automaton -- a loner, a vigilante, a juggernaut. Sam now isn't that. The keen edge of desperation and rage we SAW in that ep are not noticeably present here. Here we have a Sam who is, if anything, softer in some ways -- he's got a lover, even if she is demonic; he's been social (one reference to seeing a movie over the summer ain't much, but it's revealing); he takes pleasure in things -- something that the earlier MS Sam quite evidently did not.
Those two versions of Sam are strikingly different, you know? You say he's enraged, furious -- but I think that was Sam in Mystery Spot, not our Sam now. This Sam seems rather more integrated into his post-Dean life, very much so -- he has coped and gotten on with it.
So for me -- and your mileage will vary, and that's absolutely legitimate -- I simply don't buy that Sam is insane with grief any longer. Maybe he got that out of his system in Mystery Spot, saw what he could become and did not allow it to happen again. I honestly don't know. But I feel badly for Dean here, and -- as
But Sam alone can and DID function perfectly well, within parameters. It might not have been optimal, I'm certain it was not. But it WAS livable. And that's a stark contrast with Mystery Spot.