Sam has been my favorite since 2005. I get the love for Dean, but it felt like the writers frequently ignored Sam's perspective and pain. I really appreciate the way you articulated these points! I feel so validated! Love the video!
Season 4 is where I always say the Dean train took off. The holier than thou complex Dean gets in this season is unbearable and it continues for the rest of the series. Sam is sideline and depowered to the point he wasn't even necessary in the show. Sam, along with Buffy Summers, and Smallville's Clark Kent, are my favorite characters of all time. I really hated to see his character become what he did. When we got Soulless Sam tho... I was happy. Then they ruined it.
You also missed the part where the show gave Dean more of a personality than Sam. For start like 70% of the humor in this show was made by something Dean said or something done at his expense Yellowfever for example. But we learned more about Dean's hobbies and interest more than we ever did with Sam. Dena loves Rock & Roll, and cars but is also a western buff, watches hospital dramas, loves movies and cartoons like Scooby Doo, and he got into LARPing real fast. Then there was the fact that more comedic supernatural things happened to Dean. Like him acting like a dog, him getting old, him turning into a kid, him losing his memory, him getting put under a love spell by some witches. Sure there was stuff like that that happened to both brothers but only three to Sam alone, him getting bad luck, him swapping bodies with a teen and him turning into Justin. And the only hobbies I can think Sam had was True Crime obsession which they didn't play with that much. Point is the writers kept adding thing to Dean to make people like him but it felt like they ignored giving Sam some of that attention, but they also gave Dean plenty of grief in the latter season, it's not like he got off Scott free
How the HELL was Dean written as a "perfect hero"?! Seriously I'm a Dean fan and I have never thought of him as perfect and the writers never treat him as such, in fact in the later season their extremely hard on him, always making him the one suffering the most but making the most mistakes. It's fine if you like Sam and I agree the writers did him dirty but why are you making it sound like Dean had it easy?
@@patrickmcguire7896 I don’t mean to speak for the OP, but imo Dean is the “perfect hero” in comparison to Sam. We’re talking about the narrative intent of the writers. Dean is always right and even when he is wrong the narrative gives context that makes the audience understand his motivations even if we disagree. Dean gets grace. Wheareas Sam is framed as selfish.
Cool video. Of course it was easy to see how Sam's perspective was shoved aside along with his agency and the character himself for the post Swan era. I might even have seen signs of it in season 4, but I didn't realize that it started way back in season two.
I’ve seen all of Supernatural, and I just don’t think it’s worth rewatching. The longer it went the more it felt like the storylines were just running themselves in circles.
I have a theory about why this happened. I think its two-fold, and comes down to some realizations that I think happened in the writers room during season one. I think they fully intended at the beginning of the show for Sam to be the POV character and Dean to be a supporting, Han Solo-style character. But then, as they were making season one, I think they realized 2 things. 1. While Jared is charming and competent, Jensen is all around the better actor. He has more range, is more natural and believable, and he tends to have more and better chemistry with a wider range of fellow actors. And 2. I think people like Kripke have a hard time identifying with - and therefore liking and writing for - characters they think are too straightforwardly heroic. I'm not saying that I necessarily agree, but it's a common opinion that morally upright characters are less interesting than morally gray ones, and I'm betting that Kripke, and likely a few of the other writers, started to find Dean more fun and interesting as a character, especially once they started digging into the implications of what was on the page and stopped treating him as the one-note Han Solo. I was watching the show as it aired, and you could definitely feel the shift as the show decided it liked Dean better, and being in fandom in the early days, we talked about why we thought this happened. And this was what a lot of us thought.
Ooof, yeah. I'm rewatching the show with a friend right now and we both just can't stop marvelling at the tonal whiplash that occurs constantly, with Sam being consistently the more emotionally mature of the brothers but the narrative backing Dean over Sam. At least in s1-5 you can argue that this was the writers (albeit clumsily) attempting to pave the narrative leading to the Michael/Lucifer showdown that was the original show's main arc. But after the show got re-upped past s5 it just limps along like a directionless zombie and Sam's character gets ground into the pavement. But hey, at least we get 9 seasons of actually sometimes astonishingly good meta humor sprinkled in amongst the dreck? XD
you missed a major issue in Season 3 - the writer's strike meaning less episodes. There is 6 less episodes to this season to see where Sam could have dealt with everything going on.
Sam was a character I related too the most, I have a younger brother just like Dean and I've had people tell me how cool that is to have a brother Dean coded. He's a good brother but my God when you live through it it's not cool. I wanted an entire finale episode dedicated to Sam's life post Dean like those moments of his life just skimmed over without much though. Jared is an amazing actor but it's like the writers were Jensen gets the ratings so lets tell it from Dean's P.O.V. he's the main character now. Jensen also great actor, but Sam was the character for why I kept watching.
I love Supernatural, especially the Kripke era, and I agree that Sam took a backseat to Dean's perspective during a lot of seasons. I wonder if Kripke or the writer/s in charge found his traits more relatable or were older siblings or something I think there's an interesting metaphor there of how when Sam went back into the family business he was treated as the lesser protagonist in the story, and when he gets more of the focus again during Season 5, he makes the ultimate decision of saying yes and leaping into hell to save the world.
I started Supernatural around the beginning of Covid lockdowns, quickly became a fan, rewatched so many times over the years since it ended. Enjoyed your take and pretty much agree, but just can’t help myself overlooking the many issues with the show. It’s something I keep revisiting like an old friend. Would absolutely love to hear more of your takes on this show though!
I can't say I cared for supernatural as much as I've cared for other pieces of media, I watched it, certainly, enjoyed parts of it, hated other parts of it. This comment is mostly for algorithm points.
5:49 In later seasons Dean not caring whether the world was destroyed as long as Sam was alright was treated as a good thing when it was actually selfish.
You explained all my feelings about how Sam was treated throughout the show so perfectly. It absolutely breaks my heart how they treated his character, because he had so much untapped potential to be such an amazing character. Which he still is, but he was never allowed to reach his true potential. I know Dean’s the Fonzie of the show. The guy with the leather jacket, cool car, a ladies man, who loves classic rock and has years worth of daddy’s issues. But I always found Sam’s story way more compelling. He felt like an outcast, like he didn’t belong anywhere and that there was something inherently wrong with him. I see so much of myself in Sam and to see the show punished him over and over again because he wasn’t acting the way Dean (the normal one) wanted him to act, kind of made me feel like I was being punished too for not being what others wanted me to be. It was like the show I love was alienating me for just existing and for my love of Sam. I wish I could just give him the biggest hug and tell him all the wonderful things I thought about him, since the show refuses to give him a break or feel any sort of validation.
I loved the video and the point of view but drastically disagree, I agree they didn’t explore Sams point of view really at all! And leaving that 6 months out was such a wasted opportunity. However! I remember watching it when it first came out and feeling SO bad for Sam, over and over again. I kept remembering that none of this was his fault but he is being manipulated and force by circumstances into being a lucifer in this story AND I hated Ruby! But I think it was perfectly done to show Sam becoming a man and Dean having to come to terms with Sam being his own man who makes his own choices, not the kid he has to look after anymore. I think that’s a huge part of life which has to be developed over time and Dean ignoring his feeling in prior seasons would have milder Sam’s action. It’s a very normal coming of age story.
I saw it a little different. Sam was portrayed as the selfLESS brother. Dean was portrayed as the selfISH brother who only occasionally learned his lessons, but then forgot those lessons very quickly. I've known several people like this in real life.
Dean was the furthest thing from perfect. If anything he was portrayed as a more flawed, volatile character than Sam who was more emotionally stable and mature. Dean was older but not as smart as Sam, he grew up a hunter but he was not as skilled as Sam, and he wasn’t even the favorite of their father even though he stayed with him when Sam left for college. Part of the appeal of Dean is how broken and second fiddle he is. He was forced to grow up a single parent to his younger brother while his dad was out being a superhero, so it makes sense that he would be over protective. Because he wasn’t raised in a stable household and never made any connections, and his only goal in life was to protect Sam. He would do terrible things with the best of intentions, and with the knowledge he had. That was the whole arc for Dean. I really wish it ended at season 5, because the story for both brothers ended perfectly right there. That, coupled with Jensen Ackles beautiful performance, Dean becomes viewed as more of a sympathetic antihero.
I'm sorry you're so wrong, your right that the show failed Sam but not in the way you mentioned. They failed Sam by not giving him his own personal arc or his friends, other enemies, and other time Sam just became bland. Let's go over what happened from season 6 onwards. Soulless Sam was meant to be responsible for Soulless Sam's actions when Sam got his soul back Dean NEVER held what Sam did Soulless against him (That was Bobby). As for season 8 the biggest grip against him wasn't not looking for Dean it was that we NEVER saw him grieving for Dean. They could've easily done with what they did with Ruby and have a flashback showing Sam devested and broken after Dean so we would care about his new relationship and get sympathy for him. But we never see that! Plus his relationship with Ameila wasn't well liked in general and Sam left her before Dean even got back, also Sam didn't even seem that guilt ridden over Kevin. And no the show doesn't portray Sam completely in the wrong! Dean is shown to be the wrong and apologizes for his attitude, so no the writers aren't giving Dean a pass. Yes Season 9 the writers did Sam dirty but not with the angel possession in that they didn't give Sam an Arc at all and only one real centric episode. Cas & Crowley got way more story than Sam and Dean had several centric episodes included the funniest one in the season. In season 11 we actually get an arc for Sam that doesn't revolve around Dean and its great! Him turning down Lucifer and to not give into guilt and self-sacrifice was well written and something Sam over came on his own, in that season Sam did nothing wrong. But here's where the problem occurred in season 12 they gave Sam an arc with the BMOL and a leadership arc but their weren't enough episodes dedicated to it so it felt rushed, also he had nothing going on with his own mother Mary when they brought her back which seriously rubbed fans the wrong way. Then it continued in season 13, they had a start of something great with him and Jack but Jack left way to soon and after that season the two would rarely get time alone together and in season 14 they set Sam up as a leader with hunters under his command but they did nothing with it and just killed them all. You see my point Sam lacked any personal arcs And then theirs the other issue, the writers didn't really give Sam any friends in the series. Yeah Sam had friends in college but we never really see them in the show. Think about it, nearly every reoccurring character either had a better relationship with Dean or had more screen time alone with him than Sam. And there are some you can't deny are more Dean's friends than Sam's like Gath, Jo, Benny and Castiel. Even those who switch sides seemed to like Dean more because the writers made them that way like Victor Hendrikson, Crowley, Cole Trenton, Arthur Ketch. Then their were the villains. In Kripke era they did a good job giving the brother equal villains and their own like Meg, Gordon, Alister & Zachariah, minor bad guys but each had a rivalry with only one of the brothers. But after season 5 most of the villains seemed to only have rivalry's with Dean or once again just more screen Time with him, even Gadreel the angel who possessed Sam had more rivalry with Dean than him. That's probably why they kept brining Lucifer back cause the writers couldn't come up with any other foe to face him.
No, the fans didn't care about Sam not having a relationship with Mary. Why should he? He didn't know the woman at all, had no memories of her. It actually would have been bizarre for him to have anything except resentment for the woman WHO TRADED HER SON TO A DEMON FOR THE LIFE OF HER HUSBAND. The show repeatedly failed Sam over and over by not exploring the themes they gave him, but why would a show that was designed for macho Red State Republicans ever want to take a look at bodily autonomy? Sam gets violated over and over again, and all he wants is to determine who and or what will be in his body all by himself, a fact that Dean repeatedly ignores. The show did Sam dirty because they did Jared dirty. Maybe Jensen was easier to work with, or maybe it was the fact that he tested better with audiences, but the writers basically sidelined Sam from Season 3 onwards. This is the Dean show and you better like it. Also, holy crap. Is your grammar and spelling that bad on purpose? I'm sorry you're so wrong, you're right that the show failed Sam but not in the way you mentioned. They failed Sam by not giving him his own personal arc or his friends, other enemies, and over time Sam just became bland. Let's go over what happened from season 6 onwards. Soulless Sam was meant to be responsible for Soulless Sam's actions. When Sam got his soul back Dean NEVER held what Sam did soulless against him, which Bobby did. As for season 8, the biggest gripe against him wasn't not looking for Dean it was that we NEVER saw him grieving. They could've easily done with what they did with Ruby and have a flashback showing Sam devastated and broken after Dean so we would care about his new relationship and get sympathy for him. But we never see that! Plus his relationship with Amelia wasn't well liked in general and Sam left her before Dean even got back. Also Sam didn't even seem that guilt ridden over Kevin. And no ,the show doesn't portray Sam completely in the wrong! Dean is shown to be in the wrong and apologizes for his attitude, so no, the writers aren't giving Dean a pass. Yes, Season 9 the writers did Sam dirty but not with the angel possession in that they didn't give Sam an arc at all and only one real centric episode. Cas & Crowley got way more story than Sam and Dean had several centric episodes included the funniest one in the season. In season 11 we actually get an arc for Sam that doesn't revolve around Dean and it's great! Him turning down Lucifer and not giving in to guilt and self-sacrifice was well written and something Sam overcame on his own. In that season Sam did nothing wrong. But here's where the problem occurred in season 12: they gave Sam an arc with the BMOL and a leadership role but there weren't enough episodes dedicated to it so it felt rushed. Also he had nothing going on with his own mother, Mary, when they brought her back which seriously rubbed fans the wrong way. Then it continued in season 13, they started something great with him and Jack but Jack left way too soon and after that season the two would rarely get time alone together. In season 14 they set Sam up as a leader with hunters under his command but they did nothing with it and just killed them all. You see my point Sam lacked any personal arcs. And then there's the other issue, the writers didn't really give Sam any friends in the series. Yeah, Sam had friends in college but we never really see them in the show. Think about it, nearly every reoccurring character either had a better relationship with Dean or had more screen time alone with him than Sam. And there are some you can't deny are more Dean's friends than Sam's like Gath, Jo, Benny, and Castiel. Even those who switch sides seemed to like Dean more because the writers made them that way ,like Victor Henrikson, Crowley, Cole Trenton, Arthur Ketch. Then there were the villains. In the Kripke era they did a good job giving the brothers shared opponents and their own like Meg, Gordon, Alister & Zachariah, minor bad guys but each had a rivalry with only one of the brothers. But after season 5 most of the villains seemed to only have rivalries with Dean or once again just more screen time with him, even Gadreel the angel who possessed Sam had more rivalry with Dean than him. That's probably why they kept brining Lucifer back cause the writers couldn't come up with any other foe to face him.
@@FunkyLittlePoptart My God you sound unhinged! Did you seriously retype my entire post because you hated my grammar? Who the hell does that?! Also I have heard from plenty of people complaining about Mary & Sam’s lack of development after they brought her back. Hell some fan like you said that Sam should be more resentful towards Mary, and I actually agree with that, it would’ve been a hell of lot better than what we got.
I didn't watch after season 5. I was busy. Have to say as someone who lost my 12yo son to cancer and lost a sibling and parent as a young adult, I was frustrated with the Winchster's failing to learn anything. Maybe it's easier in real life when you don't have a way to bring them back. You don't get to sacrifice yourself for loved ones. But they couldn't learn from their fathers death how shitty that move was? Really? I thought at some point they'd learn to lean into pain. If they're so tough, why couldn't any of them learn this?
Excellent video the show definitely forgot to treat sam like a protagonist in the show the series should had ended in season 5 even though I did enjoy parts of season 6 and the Carver era of supernatural even though i love dean sam deserved better thanks for showing that even during the kripke era he was pushed aside at times
Its true the Series either completely sidelines Sam in the later season or clearly favors Dean giving him more emotional arcs and storylines. Castiel & Crowley even seemed to eclipse Sam in the story several times. Also Sam seemed way more petulant and unsimpathetic then Dean over several seasons. That's why the ending angered many fans because Dean was the Fan favorite not given a happy ending.
The series finale sucked because neither brother got a happy ending. This video literally shows Sam as a sad lonely old man who's wife either died or possibly left him, The only time Sam was happy was with his son Dean Jr. How is that a happy ending? Your right that the show sidelined Sam
@@patrickmcguire7896 It was heavily implied that Sam married Eileen. They didn't have her in the final episode as Sam's wife because of Covid restrictions; they tried to have as few close interactions between actors as possible because of the social distancing requirements at the time. My guess is they only showed the son at all (which was very brief) because they probably figured the fans would be upset if we didn't at least get a glimpse. Thing is, who Sam's wife and son were wasn't the focus. It was that, while having to grieve and endure a life without his brother, Sam did finally get to have the "normal" life and family he'd always wished he could have. In that sense, Sam did get his happy ending. He got to grow old with peace and his family (albeit sans Dean).
There's many reasons why I liked Dean less and less as the seasons progressed and the MANY sins he committed against Sam without ever even feeling a little bad for them are certainly a big reason...
I love Sam but here is my theory people were not happy with him on Gilmore girls while his brother did nothing really bad on the another show or movies like Sam did which didn’t help his image and didn’t show him the best light Gilmore Girls that’s just my theory because when you go back look at the show Gilmore girls people really hate Sam character dean it’s just my theory
Meh. Sam was only important to Azazel. The show is about Hunters & Sam always wishy washy til later. Dean rolled with the Hunter life with varying degrees of being ok with things. At the end of the day, both actors accepted, & likely drove, their characters' development. The only travesty was the 2nd finale.
Sam has been my favorite since 2005. I get the love for Dean, but it felt like the writers frequently ignored Sam's perspective and pain. I really appreciate the way you articulated these points! I feel so validated! Love the video!
Season 4 is where I always say the Dean train took off. The holier than thou complex Dean gets in this season is unbearable and it continues for the rest of the series. Sam is sideline and depowered to the point he wasn't even necessary in the show.
Sam, along with Buffy Summers, and Smallville's Clark Kent, are my favorite characters of all time.
I really hated to see his character become what he did. When we got Soulless Sam tho... I was happy. Then they ruined it.
You also missed the part where the show gave Dean more of a personality than Sam. For start like 70% of the humor in this show was made by something Dean said or something done at his expense Yellowfever for example. But we learned more about Dean's hobbies and interest more than we ever did with Sam. Dena loves Rock & Roll, and cars but is also a western buff, watches hospital dramas, loves movies and cartoons like Scooby Doo, and he got into LARPing real fast. Then there was the fact that more comedic supernatural things happened to Dean. Like him acting like a dog, him getting old, him turning into a kid, him losing his memory, him getting put under a love spell by some witches. Sure there was stuff like that that happened to both brothers but only three to Sam alone, him getting bad luck, him swapping bodies with a teen and him turning into Justin. And the only hobbies I can think Sam had was True Crime obsession which they didn't play with that much. Point is the writers kept adding thing to Dean to make people like him but it felt like they ignored giving Sam some of that attention, but they also gave Dean plenty of grief in the latter season, it's not like he got off Scott free
I`m a Samgirl forever, despite the writers desicion to treat Dean as a perfect hero.. Really nice to see some support for Sam!
How the HELL was Dean written as a "perfect hero"?! Seriously I'm a Dean fan and I have never thought of him as perfect and the writers never treat him as such, in fact in the later season their extremely hard on him, always making him the one suffering the most but making the most mistakes. It's fine if you like Sam and I agree the writers did him dirty but why are you making it sound like Dean had it easy?
@@patrickmcguire7896 Sorry I clearly misspoke.
@@patrickmcguire7896 I don’t mean to speak for the OP, but imo Dean is the “perfect hero” in comparison to Sam. We’re talking about the narrative intent of the writers. Dean is always right and even when he is wrong the narrative gives context that makes the audience understand his motivations even if we disagree. Dean gets grace. Wheareas Sam is framed as selfish.
@@BrightEyes24 Thank you. English is my second language, so it can be hard to express myself properly sometimes.
@@solveigelisabethhenne1739 🙂 No problem!
Cool video. Of course it was easy to see how Sam's perspective was shoved aside along with his agency and the character himself for the post Swan era. I might even have seen signs of it in season 4, but I didn't realize that it started way back in season two.
I’ve seen all of Supernatural, and I just don’t think it’s worth rewatching. The longer it went the more it felt like the storylines were just running themselves in circles.
I agree. Sam was very much ignored but Dean was truly a Gary Sue and pretty much seen as the broken bird while Sam was a blamed victim
The show is worth rewatching, though not every episode and you can sure as hell skip the last season.
I have a theory about why this happened. I think its two-fold, and comes down to some realizations that I think happened in the writers room during season one. I think they fully intended at the beginning of the show for Sam to be the POV character and Dean to be a supporting, Han Solo-style character. But then, as they were making season one, I think they realized 2 things. 1. While Jared is charming and competent, Jensen is all around the better actor. He has more range, is more natural and believable, and he tends to have more and better chemistry with a wider range of fellow actors. And 2. I think people like Kripke have a hard time identifying with - and therefore liking and writing for - characters they think are too straightforwardly heroic. I'm not saying that I necessarily agree, but it's a common opinion that morally upright characters are less interesting than morally gray ones, and I'm betting that Kripke, and likely a few of the other writers, started to find Dean more fun and interesting as a character, especially once they started digging into the implications of what was on the page and stopped treating him as the one-note Han Solo. I was watching the show as it aired, and you could definitely feel the shift as the show decided it liked Dean better, and being in fandom in the early days, we talked about why we thought this happened. And this was what a lot of us thought.
My brain processed the video title as something supernatural made Sam Winchester turned on (aroused). The content was completely off topic 😂
@@speca 🤣🤣 Love it!
Ruby definitely turned him on.
Ooof, yeah. I'm rewatching the show with a friend right now and we both just can't stop marvelling at the tonal whiplash that occurs constantly, with Sam being consistently the more emotionally mature of the brothers but the narrative backing Dean over Sam. At least in s1-5 you can argue that this was the writers (albeit clumsily) attempting to pave the narrative leading to the Michael/Lucifer showdown that was the original show's main arc. But after the show got re-upped past s5 it just limps along like a directionless zombie and Sam's character gets ground into the pavement. But hey, at least we get 9 seasons of actually sometimes astonishingly good meta humor sprinkled in amongst the dreck? XD
you missed a major issue in Season 3 - the writer's strike meaning less episodes. There is 6 less episodes to this season to see where Sam could have dealt with everything going on.
11:39 Classic CW. Thinking acknowledging and joking about the flaws in their writing but not fixing them justifies those flaws.
Sam was a character I related too the most, I have a younger brother just like Dean and I've had people tell me how cool that is to have a brother Dean coded. He's a good brother but my God when you live through it it's not cool.
I wanted an entire finale episode dedicated to Sam's life post Dean like those moments of his life just skimmed over without much though. Jared is an amazing actor but it's like the writers were Jensen gets the ratings so lets tell it from Dean's P.O.V. he's the main character now. Jensen also great actor, but Sam was the character for why I kept watching.
I love Supernatural, especially the Kripke era, and I agree that Sam took a backseat to Dean's perspective during a lot of seasons. I wonder if Kripke or the writer/s in charge found his traits more relatable or were older siblings or something
I think there's an interesting metaphor there of how when Sam went back into the family business he was treated as the lesser protagonist in the story, and when he gets more of the focus again during Season 5, he makes the ultimate decision of saying yes and leaping into hell to save the world.
I started Supernatural around the beginning of Covid lockdowns, quickly became a fan, rewatched so many times over the years since it ended. Enjoyed your take and pretty much agree, but just can’t help myself overlooking the many issues with the show. It’s something I keep revisiting like an old friend. Would absolutely love to hear more of your takes on this show though!
I can't say I cared for supernatural as much as I've cared for other pieces of media, I watched it, certainly, enjoyed parts of it, hated other parts of it. This comment is mostly for algorithm points.
5:49 In later seasons Dean not caring whether the world was destroyed as long as Sam was alright was treated as a good thing when it was actually selfish.
Yep totally agree the writing in the later seasons wasn't good
You explained all my feelings about how Sam was treated throughout the show so perfectly. It absolutely breaks my heart how they treated his character, because he had so much untapped potential to be such an amazing character. Which he still is, but he was never allowed to reach his true potential.
I know Dean’s the Fonzie of the show. The guy with the leather jacket, cool car, a ladies man, who loves classic rock and has years worth of daddy’s issues.
But I always found Sam’s story way more compelling. He felt like an outcast, like he didn’t belong anywhere and that there was something inherently wrong with him.
I see so much of myself in Sam and to see the show punished him over and over again because he wasn’t acting the way Dean (the normal one) wanted him to act, kind of made me feel like I was being punished too for not being what others wanted me to be.
It was like the show I love was alienating me for just existing and for my love of Sam. I wish I could just give him the biggest hug and tell him all the wonderful things I thought about him, since the show refuses to give him a break or feel any sort of validation.
I agree with so many things you say. Saying post kripke is sequel-coded is so true
I might be the only Supernatural fan that doesn't actually like Mystery Spot.
I loved the video and the point of view but drastically disagree, I agree they didn’t explore Sams point of view really at all! And leaving that 6 months out was such a wasted opportunity. However! I remember watching it when it first came out and feeling SO bad for Sam, over and over again. I kept remembering that none of this was his fault but he is being manipulated and force by circumstances into being a lucifer in this story AND I hated Ruby! But I think it was perfectly done to show Sam becoming a man and Dean having to come to terms with Sam being his own man who makes his own choices, not the kid he has to look after anymore. I think that’s a huge part of life which has to be developed over time and Dean ignoring his feeling in prior seasons would have milder Sam’s action. It’s a very normal coming of age story.
I saw it a little different. Sam was portrayed as the selfLESS brother. Dean was portrayed as the selfISH brother who only occasionally learned his lessons, but then forgot those lessons very quickly. I've known several people like this in real life.
This is exactly how I've always seen it, as well.
I love my Sammy❤ Never realized until rewatching earlier seasons that everybody favored Dean. I love Dean but the show sometimes did my Sammy wrong.
Dean was the furthest thing from perfect. If anything he was portrayed as a more flawed, volatile character than Sam who was more emotionally stable and mature. Dean was older but not as smart as Sam, he grew up a hunter but he was not as skilled as Sam, and he wasn’t even the favorite of their father even though he stayed with him when Sam left for college.
Part of the appeal of Dean is how broken and second fiddle he is. He was forced to grow up a single parent to his younger brother while his dad was out being a superhero, so it makes sense that he would be over protective. Because he wasn’t raised in a stable household and never made any connections, and his only goal in life was to protect Sam. He would do terrible things with the best of intentions, and with the knowledge he had. That was the whole arc for Dean. I really wish it ended at season 5, because the story for both brothers ended perfectly right there. That, coupled with Jensen Ackles beautiful performance, Dean becomes viewed as more of a sympathetic antihero.
I'm sorry you're so wrong, your right that the show failed Sam but not in the way you mentioned. They failed Sam by not giving him his own personal arc or his friends, other enemies, and other time Sam just became bland.
Let's go over what happened from season 6 onwards. Soulless Sam was meant to be responsible for Soulless Sam's actions when Sam got his soul back Dean NEVER held what Sam did Soulless against him (That was Bobby). As for season 8 the biggest grip against him wasn't not looking for Dean it was that we NEVER saw him grieving for Dean. They could've easily done with what they did with Ruby and have a flashback showing Sam devested and broken after Dean so we would care about his new relationship and get sympathy for him. But we never see that! Plus his relationship with Ameila wasn't well liked in general and Sam left her before Dean even got back, also Sam didn't even seem that guilt ridden over Kevin. And no the show doesn't portray Sam completely in the wrong! Dean is shown to be the wrong and apologizes for his attitude, so no the writers aren't giving Dean a pass. Yes Season 9 the writers did Sam dirty but not with the angel possession in that they didn't give Sam an Arc at all and only one real centric episode. Cas & Crowley got way more story than Sam and Dean had several centric episodes included the funniest one in the season. In season 11 we actually get an arc for Sam that doesn't revolve around Dean and its great! Him turning down Lucifer and to not give into guilt and self-sacrifice was well written and something Sam over came on his own, in that season Sam did nothing wrong. But here's where the problem occurred in season 12 they gave Sam an arc with the BMOL and a leadership arc but their weren't enough episodes dedicated to it so it felt rushed, also he had nothing going on with his own mother Mary when they brought her back which seriously rubbed fans the wrong way. Then it continued in season 13, they had a start of something great with him and Jack but Jack left way to soon and after that season the two would rarely get time alone together and in season 14 they set Sam up as a leader with hunters under his command but they did nothing with it and just killed them all. You see my point Sam lacked any personal arcs
And then theirs the other issue, the writers didn't really give Sam any friends in the series. Yeah Sam had friends in college but we never really see them in the show. Think about it, nearly every reoccurring character either had a better relationship with Dean or had more screen time alone with him than Sam. And there are some you can't deny are more Dean's friends than Sam's like Gath, Jo, Benny and Castiel. Even those who switch sides seemed to like Dean more because the writers made them that way like Victor Hendrikson, Crowley, Cole Trenton, Arthur Ketch. Then their were the villains. In Kripke era they did a good job giving the brother equal villains and their own like Meg, Gordon, Alister & Zachariah, minor bad guys but each had a rivalry with only one of the brothers. But after season 5 most of the villains seemed to only have rivalry's with Dean or once again just more screen Time with him, even Gadreel the angel who possessed Sam had more rivalry with Dean than him. That's probably why they kept brining Lucifer back cause the writers couldn't come up with any other foe to face him.
No, the fans didn't care about Sam not having a relationship with Mary. Why should he? He didn't know the woman at all, had no memories of her. It actually would have been bizarre for him to have anything except resentment for the woman WHO TRADED HER SON TO A DEMON FOR THE LIFE OF HER HUSBAND.
The show repeatedly failed Sam over and over by not exploring the themes they gave him, but why would a show that was designed for macho Red State Republicans ever want to take a look at bodily autonomy? Sam gets violated over and over again, and all he wants is to determine who and or what will be in his body all by himself, a fact that Dean repeatedly ignores.
The show did Sam dirty because they did Jared dirty. Maybe Jensen was easier to work with, or maybe it was the fact that he tested better with audiences, but the writers basically sidelined Sam from Season 3 onwards. This is the Dean show and you better like it.
Also, holy crap. Is your grammar and spelling that bad on purpose?
I'm sorry you're so wrong, you're right that the show failed Sam but not in the way you mentioned. They failed Sam by not giving him his own personal arc or his friends, other enemies, and over time Sam just became bland.
Let's go over what happened from season 6 onwards. Soulless Sam was meant to be responsible for Soulless Sam's actions. When Sam got his soul back Dean NEVER held what Sam did soulless against him, which Bobby did. As for season 8, the biggest gripe against him wasn't not looking for Dean it was that we NEVER saw him grieving. They could've easily done with what they did with Ruby and have a flashback showing Sam devastated and broken after Dean so we would care about his new relationship and get sympathy for him. But we never see that! Plus his relationship with Amelia wasn't well liked in general and Sam left her before Dean even got back. Also Sam didn't even seem that guilt ridden over Kevin. And no ,the show doesn't portray Sam completely in the wrong! Dean is shown to be in the wrong and apologizes for his attitude, so no, the writers aren't giving Dean a pass. Yes, Season 9 the writers did Sam dirty but not with the angel possession in that they didn't give Sam an arc at all and only one real centric episode. Cas & Crowley got way more story than Sam and Dean had several centric episodes included the funniest one in the season.
In season 11 we actually get an arc for Sam that doesn't revolve around Dean and it's great! Him turning down Lucifer and not giving in to guilt and self-sacrifice was well written and something Sam overcame on his own. In that season Sam did nothing wrong.
But here's where the problem occurred in season 12: they gave Sam an arc with the BMOL and a leadership role but there weren't enough episodes dedicated to it so it felt rushed. Also he had nothing going on with his own mother, Mary, when they brought her back which seriously rubbed fans the wrong way. Then it continued in season 13, they started something great with him and Jack but Jack left way too soon and after that season the two would rarely get time alone together.
In season 14 they set Sam up as a leader with hunters under his command but they did nothing with it and just killed them all. You see my point Sam lacked any personal arcs.
And then there's the other issue, the writers didn't really give Sam any friends in the series. Yeah, Sam had friends in college but we never really see them in the show. Think about it, nearly every reoccurring character either had a better relationship with Dean or had more screen time alone with him than Sam. And there are some you can't deny are more Dean's friends than Sam's like Gath, Jo, Benny, and Castiel. Even those who switch sides seemed to like Dean more because the writers made them that way ,like Victor Henrikson, Crowley, Cole Trenton, Arthur Ketch. Then there were the villains. In the Kripke era they did a good job giving the brothers shared opponents and their own like Meg, Gordon, Alister & Zachariah, minor bad guys but each had a rivalry with only one of the brothers. But after season 5 most of the villains seemed to only have rivalries with Dean or once again just more screen time with him, even Gadreel the angel who possessed Sam had more rivalry with Dean than him. That's probably why they kept brining Lucifer back cause the writers couldn't come up with any other foe to face him.
@@FunkyLittlePoptart My God you sound unhinged! Did you seriously retype my entire post because you hated my grammar? Who the hell does that?! Also I have heard from plenty of people complaining about Mary & Sam’s lack of development after they brought her back. Hell some fan like you said that Sam should be more resentful towards Mary, and I actually agree with that, it would’ve been a hell of lot better than what we got.
@@patrickmcguire7896 Hey! Look how much your spelling and grammar improved as soon as someone corrected your laziness! I knew you could do it!
the way they dealt with his addiction, the repeated sexual assaults he faced and his hell trauma (wall crumbling) was HORRIBLE.
I didn't watch after season 5. I was busy.
Have to say as someone who lost my 12yo son to cancer and lost a sibling and parent as a young adult, I was frustrated with the Winchster's failing to learn anything. Maybe it's easier in real life when you don't have a way to bring them back. You don't get to sacrifice yourself for loved ones. But they couldn't learn from their fathers death how shitty that move was? Really? I thought at some point they'd learn to lean into pain. If they're so tough, why couldn't any of them learn this?
Excellent video the show definitely forgot to treat sam like a protagonist in the show the series should had ended in season 5 even though I did enjoy parts of season 6 and the Carver era of supernatural even though i love dean sam deserved better thanks for showing that even during the kripke era he was pushed aside at times
Sam was always my favorite
Dean not so much
I miss Supernatural.... Overall a fun, wild, show.
Its true the Series either completely sidelines Sam in the later season or clearly favors Dean giving him more emotional arcs and storylines. Castiel & Crowley even seemed to eclipse Sam in the story several times. Also Sam seemed way more petulant and unsimpathetic then Dean over several seasons. That's why the ending angered many fans because Dean was the Fan favorite not given a happy ending.
The series finale sucked because neither brother got a happy ending. This video literally shows Sam as a sad lonely old man who's wife either died or possibly left him, The only time Sam was happy was with his son Dean Jr. How is that a happy ending? Your right that the show sidelined Sam
@@patrickmcguire7896 It was heavily implied that Sam married Eileen. They didn't have her in the final episode as Sam's wife because of Covid restrictions; they tried to have as few close interactions between actors as possible because of the social distancing requirements at the time. My guess is they only showed the son at all (which was very brief) because they probably figured the fans would be upset if we didn't at least get a glimpse.
Thing is, who Sam's wife and son were wasn't the focus. It was that, while having to grieve and endure a life without his brother, Sam did finally get to have the "normal" life and family he'd always wished he could have.
In that sense, Sam did get his happy ending. He got to grow old with peace and his family (albeit sans Dean).
There's many reasons why I liked Dean less and less as the seasons progressed and the MANY sins he committed against Sam without ever even feeling a little bad for them are certainly a big reason...
I love Sam but here is my theory people were not happy with him on Gilmore girls while his brother did nothing really bad on the another show or movies like Sam did which didn’t help his image and didn’t show him the best light Gilmore Girls that’s just my theory because when you go back look at the show Gilmore girls people really hate Sam character dean it’s just my theory
Given the actions of Donatello after having no soul, isn't Sam responsible for his actions when he didn't have one?
Can’t wait for this 😊
Will you do Dean next please 🥺
this show was only good when Sam was the pratagonist and the story revolved around him
Meh. Sam was only important to Azazel. The show is about Hunters & Sam always wishy washy til later. Dean rolled with the Hunter life with varying degrees of being ok with things. At the end of the day, both actors accepted, & likely drove, their characters' development. The only travesty was the 2nd finale.
Sam is Lucifer vessel. It's deans show not Sams. Dean is the hero.
You don't know what protagonist means do you