Sam's love for Dean is less obvious and less clingy, but I don't think it's less in terms of depth of feeling. It's less parental. Dean's love is practically maternal, and I don't think Sam's has that same overtone, which makes it seem like it's of a lesser quality, but I don't think it is. He does sometimes look at Dean like Dean is everything; not as often as Dean looks at him that way, but it's definitely there.
I think Mystery Spot shows just how broken he is without Dean, and how much he needs him, and how every dumbass arrogant thing he did after that was to save or protect Dean. It takes him all of season 4 and some of season 5 to recover from that. I certainly don't fault Sam for going to college - John's the one who told him not to come back; I don't think that was ever his intention - and I don't see it as evidence that he loves Dean *less*; he just shows it differently. I also think there's a difference between "I'm not with my brother 24/7 because 1. I have boundaries and 2. I'm at college" and "My brother is in hell because he sold his soul to revive me," you know?
I do think he's more overtly resentful of how much he needs Dean (and sometimes, of how much Dean needs him), especially in the earlier seasons, but I think that's just because he's more self-aware and more analytical.
He's also a lot angrier (not without good reason) to begin with, and responds to being afraid by getting angry, so a lot of his fear about losing Dean expresses itself that way.
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Date: 2010-10-25 06:56 pm (UTC)I think Mystery Spot shows just how broken he is without Dean, and how much he needs him, and how every dumbass arrogant thing he did after that was to save or protect Dean. It takes him all of season 4 and some of season 5 to recover from that. I certainly don't fault Sam for going to college - John's the one who told him not to come back; I don't think that was ever his intention - and I don't see it as evidence that he loves Dean *less*; he just shows it differently. I also think there's a difference between "I'm not with my brother 24/7 because 1. I have boundaries and 2. I'm at college" and "My brother is in hell because he sold his soul to revive me," you know?
I do think he's more overtly resentful of how much he needs Dean (and sometimes, of how much Dean needs him), especially in the earlier seasons, but I think that's just because he's more self-aware and more analytical.
He's also a lot angrier (not without good reason) to begin with, and responds to being afraid by getting angry, so a lot of his fear about losing Dean expresses itself that way.