I think we get it in the siren episode, much as we got it in Asylum in s1, but while I think he does have those thoughts, I don't think they're the majority of his thoughts or feelings towards Dean
I think there's a strong undercurrent of contempt in Sam's relationship with Dean. You mention Sam's pride--I think it comes with a significant superiority complex. It only comes out blatantly when he's manipulated into revealing it, but he often has little asides or faces he makes that imply that he's looking down at Dean for being less educated, childish, or vulgar. (Not that I wouldn't probably look down on Dean for a lot of the same things! But there is a thread of contempt coming from Sam toward Dean that I think runs throughout the series.)
Now, of course that contempt is mixed in with a huge amount of love and obligation, which is why Sam's such a confused mess in season four, and why it's so easy for him to mistake his good intentions for a justification of everything he does.
Sam does it piecemeal, rationalizing that it's not so bad (and honestly, in his shoes, if someone told me I could save the world by drinking demon blood and killing a demon, I might believe it, especially given how wrecked and irrational he was after Dean was gone), and his motives are good etc. while he slips further and further down the road to hell.
I totally agree here. I thought Sam's descent was wonderfully well-written. It was fascinating to watch because I could understand and sympathize with both brothers, and it wasn't until the final episodes that it really became clear that Sam's ends didn't justify the means, and that a huge part of Sam's mistake was his pride leading him to think he could assess the entire picture clearly and not realize that he had been manipulated by Ruby and Lilith.
A lot of this is subjective, of course. I think a big part of it for me is that I just don't feel much intensity of feeling from Sam toward Dean because of the way Jared Padalecki plays him. And it's also that I'm so much more invested in Dean, and I think Dean becoming more detached from Sam is probably the most emotionally healthy thing that could happen to both of them. The show seems to have repudiated him, but I still think Sam was right in season one when he was still planning to go back to Stanford.
Thank you for your comments--you've given me a lot to think about.
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Date: 2010-10-25 09:31 pm (UTC)I think there's a strong undercurrent of contempt in Sam's relationship with Dean. You mention Sam's pride--I think it comes with a significant superiority complex. It only comes out blatantly when he's manipulated into revealing it, but he often has little asides or faces he makes that imply that he's looking down at Dean for being less educated, childish, or vulgar. (Not that I wouldn't probably look down on Dean for a lot of the same things! But there is a thread of contempt coming from Sam toward Dean that I think runs throughout the series.)
Now, of course that contempt is mixed in with a huge amount of love and obligation, which is why Sam's such a confused mess in season four, and why it's so easy for him to mistake his good intentions for a justification of everything he does.
Sam does it piecemeal, rationalizing that it's not so bad (and honestly, in his shoes, if someone told me I could save the world by drinking demon blood and killing a demon, I might believe it, especially given how wrecked and irrational he was after Dean was gone), and his motives are good etc. while he slips further and further down the road to hell.
I totally agree here. I thought Sam's descent was wonderfully well-written. It was fascinating to watch because I could understand and sympathize with both brothers, and it wasn't until the final episodes that it really became clear that Sam's ends didn't justify the means, and that a huge part of Sam's mistake was his pride leading him to think he could assess the entire picture clearly and not realize that he had been manipulated by Ruby and Lilith.
A lot of this is subjective, of course. I think a big part of it for me is that I just don't feel much intensity of feeling from Sam toward Dean because of the way Jared Padalecki plays him. And it's also that I'm so much more invested in Dean, and I think Dean becoming more detached from Sam is probably the most emotionally healthy thing that could happen to both of them. The show seems to have repudiated him, but I still think Sam was right in season one when he was still planning to go back to Stanford.
Thank you for your comments--you've given me a lot to think about.