oselle | SPN 4:14 Revisited (Reply)

I wanted to write a follow-up to last night's episode regarding Sam. Some of this is going to be reworked from things I've said elsewhere in comments so it might be repetitive to a few of you but not all of you have had the privilege of basking in my wisdom, so here goes.

The climax of last night's episode was the confrontation between Dean and Sam during which, under the siren's spell, they both blurted out what we have to assume is the truth -- considering that Dean clearly spoke the truth (that Sam's been lying to him and keeping things from him) I don't think that even the most devoted Samgirl could say that Sam's accusations were merely an unfortunate side effect of the spell.

What Sam said pretty much confirmed what I (and some of you) have suspected has been on Sam's mind all season -- that he's not happy about having Dean back. No, he didn't say that exactly, but what he did say essentially meant the same thing: you're weak, you suck at your job, you're a self-pitying shit and (most importantly) you're holding me back. These are not the sort of things you say to someone you want in your life. So let's establish right now that, at the present, Sam thinks he'd be better off without Dean.

Unlike some of you (and Dean) I don't think this is a "new" Sam at all. I actually think this is the old Sam -- the Sam of Stanford, the Sam we glimpsed in portions of Season One, in episodes like the Pilot, "Asylum" and "Salvation." I'm going to call him Original Sam.

Here's what we know about Original Sam: he was ambitious and was pursuing a career that carried the potential for both wealth and prestige and, quite possibly, for power (a law degree is very often a pathway to political office). He wanted to build a life that had nothing to do with his father or brother and, in fact, had gone two years without communicating with either one of them. And, (going by things he said in "Salvation") he saw his resumption of hunting (and his partnership with Dean) as a necessary but unfortunate situation that would end once the Yellow-Eyed Demon had been killed.

His father's death and Dean's near-death at the beginning of Season Two were the genesis of New Sam. New Sam was joined at the hip with Dean and was an equal partner with him. New Sam essentially gave up on any vision of that law degree and white-picket-fence life and devoted himself to hunting...and to Dean. This is the Sam who I think is closest to our fannish hearts, the one who turns up in countless fanfics, the one who nearly lost his mind with grief in "Mystery Spot" and who wept over Dean's body at the end of "No Rest for the Wicked." This is the Sam who would have done anything, anything to get Dean out of hell.

I hate to tell you this, but New Sam has left the building. What we're dealing with now is Original Sam...with a twist. Because Original Sam has not only realized that he has supernatural powers but also that those powers can take him far beyond where any Stanford law degree could have taken him. And he likes that. It appeals to him, it appeals to the pride and ambition that have always been part of his character. This is nothing new at all. This is Original Sam hopped up on his own psychic powers and whatever flattery Ruby's been feeding him and it's gone to his head so much that he can stand there and say the most appalling (and untrue) things to the brother who sacrificed both his life and his soul, and gave himself up to horrific torment, so that Sam could live.

This is the Sam who's back to wanting Dean out of his life. He simply doesn't need Dean at all. He's got his powers, he's got Ruby to mentor him and he's got a mission -- and let me tell you something, that mission is not revenge against Lilith. He may think that it is, but it's not. Seriously, why would he need to exact vengeance against her? For killing and torturing Dean? He stopped feeling bad about Dean's death a month after it happened and then he moved on. And as for Dean's suffering in hell at Lilith's command? Well, Dean's brought that up (at Sam's needling insistence, btw) all of two times since he returned and Sam seems to consider this "whining" self-pity so it's clear he thinks Dean should just get over it already. No, Sam isn't really looking for vengeance.

What I think Sam's really after (whether he realizes it yet or not) is ascendance over Lilith. He wants to kill her because he wants to depose her and, presumably, assume the power that she has. This is exactly what Ruby is offering him and I have to repeat that this side of Sam's character is nothing new. This is who he has always been.

Assuming I'm right and this is the direction the show is taking, I don't have a problem with it. I think it's one hell of an intriguing storyline and I applaud them for taking the enormous risk of making one of their major characters so complex and unlikable. Much as I love fanfic and would love to have seen Sam rescuing Dean and devotedly taking care of him, I don't think the show could have gotten too much mileage out of that. Shmoop yes, mileage no.

However...I'm not really sure this is what the show is doing or at least, not sure they know they're doing it. The alienation between the brothers that has been so remarkable to all of us went glaringly unnoticed by all of the characters until last night's episode. Sam's apathy towards Dean and attachment to Ruby have been presented to us not only without apology but as if they were something positive -- Sam "coming into his own" under Ruby's benevolent tutelage. Since the season premiere, Ruby has been depicted as caring, affectionate, passionate and self-sacrificing -- wholly invested in helping Sam realize his true potential. Meanwhile Dean has been depicted as...inconvenient ("Lazarus Rising"), judgmental ("Metamorphosis"), laughable ("Yellow Fever"), deserving of humiliation ("After School Special") and wallowing in self-pity (the consecutive and nearly identical endings of "Heaven and Hell" and "Family Remains").

On top of all that is Dean's connection to the angels, who (along with God and all of heaven) have been drawn so negatively, while Ruby has grown positively saint-like in comparison. We've come down from the season-premiere high of the "important work" that the angels wanted Dean to do, to Dean being just a foot soldier drafted into the service of narrow-minded bullies -- essentially, the same Dean that Sam rejected years ago when he went to Stanford, the "blunt instrument" who now serves God (or at least, the angels) instead of John Winchester.

I admit I'm a Deangirl and I'm protective of his character and I also admit that the show has never done a good job of "selling" me on Sam. I have always found Sam to be a little selfish and vain and I've never, ever really trusted him. I feel like Dean's an open book whereas Sam...I've always looked at Sam "through a glass darkly." And I don't think that this has been intentional on the part of the creator and the writers. I think they either like Sam this way or simply do not see these flaws in his character.

Kripke supposedly said ages ago that he really envisioned Supernatural as Sam's story -- now, there's no reason why a leading character can't be equivocal and complicated and even downright horrible but I've always believed that Kripke sees Sam as the show's primary protagonist no matter what. He can do no wrong. And I worry that the writers have maintained this blind spot about Sam, and what they've done with Sam, and think they're building him up into a hero when they are, in fact, turning him into a truly awful creature -- selfish, proud, power-hungry and downright hateful to the one person in the world who needs him, who genuinely loves him, and to whom he owes his very life.

Let me reiterate -- if the writers are doing this in full awareness with the payoff of some incredible twist at the end of the season (like

ghyste's "Dean's still in hell" speculation), then bravo. Bravo for taking risks and pushing the show out of its comfort zone and keeping us on the edge of our seats while breaking our hearts.

But...if they play this straight, if they continue to position Ruby as a misunderstood demon-with-a-heart-of-gold, Dean as God's hapless puppet, subconsciously wanting to suppress the potential greatness of his more intelligent and ambitious little brother because of his own prejudiced fears, and Sam as somehow justified in everything he's done and every way he's acted this season? Well, they ain't got the chops to sell it and even if they did, I still wouldn't buy it.