A Deeper Look at Season Five Sam Winchester
Sam, Interrupted
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This Sam Winchester mind bender wasn’t even close to the deep examination from “When The Levee Breaks.” It instead was the catalyst to expand on that rage problem that had slowly been growing out of control. The crazy spell kicked up the intensity about 800 notches and Sam finally saw what that rage was doing to him. Of course once he realized he needed help, he went to Dean who shut him down. Ouch, ouch, ouch. He’d either have to figure that out on his own or Lucifer would have his fire. The boy can’t win.
The Song Remains The Same
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This is one of my all time favorite Sam episodes. For one, he FINALLY gets to do the time travel thing. He saw his parents for essentially the first time. For someone who grew up without a mother and alienated from his father, this glimpse affected him in a way that Dean could never understand. He was emotional, sentimental, in complete awe, and rather endearing. He got his chance to make peace with John even if it was John before he was even born. That was exactly what he needed. He was even willing to devise a plan where John and Mary could save themselves by splitting apart thus assuring he and Dean would never be born. He was okay with that. Ending the family curse was what mattered most.Â
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There was a reason for the time travel though and again Sam was the target. When he heard of the plan for Anna to kill him, he actually considered the merit of it. He would have let her if it would have prevented Lucifer from using him as a vessel. This episode proved how much Castiel cared about Sam because Cas wouldn’t allow that option to be considered. Of course Anna does kill him while he was protecting Mary, but this cosmically screwed Winchester got a redo from the almighty archangel Michael. He realized after all this why he or Dean might say yes, to protect family. I’m sure this experience factored in his decision at the end of the season.    Â
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My Bloody Valentine
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Holy moley, the ultimate Sam Winchester meltdown. Maybe this was why we didn’t want to see him raging. Sam was affected from the word go and fought the spell hard just because he didn’t want to let Dean down. He feared Dean’s disappointment the most and was reluctant to let Dean know something was wrong. When he finally confessed to Dean that he wasn’t alright, he begged him to lock him down. He couldn’t give into the spell because he knew how dangerous he was. Dean couldn’t see him that way. Sadly, Famine got the upper hand and delivered two demons right to an out of his mind Sam.Â
Remember, the gist behind Famine’s spell was he took someone’s hunger for something and made them rabid for it. While Sam was craving the demon blood in a huge way and unable to resist the maddening urge within, the blood was not his true craving. It was the power that came with the blood. When Sam unleashed all that fury, exorcising five demons at once rather than drink their blood and then taking out Famine, he actually enjoyed it. He had more power than ever, an immense and very dark power fueled by instability and rage. It felt good. Unfortunately, that was exactly what Lucifer wanted.Â
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Sam may have saved the day but it came with a great personal cost. Dean saw it all. Dean did exactly what Sam feared but maybe worse. This time he didn’t just look at Sam like he was a freak. He was purely shaken to the core by seeing him use his full power. Remember Dean never saw Sam kill Alastair or Lilith. It’s one thing to know how powerful Sam was but to see it first hand for the first time? Terrifying. Sam was able to move on past this, even having to go through another painful detox to get there, but Dean wasn’t.
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Dark Side of The Moon
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Poor Sam, once again he’s a victim of circumstances beyond his control. First he’s coldly blown away and then is stunned to find he’s in Heaven. He couldn’t comprehend why he was there. He told Dean, “You I get, sure, but me? Maybe you haven’t noticed but I’ve done a few things?” Dean defended that logic, making light that Sam thought he was doing the right things. “Last I checked it wasn’t the road to Heaven paved with good intentions.” Oh Sam, you really think that lowly of yourself? Yeah, he did.
Dean’s spiral had already started, the memories of the encounter with Famine too fresh. Sam couldn’t control his happy memories and Dean saw they were from the times he ran away from his family. On top of that, Sam was stunned to see Dean’s early memories of having a loving relationship with Mary and holding the family together at such a young age. He had no idea. He tried to rationally defend himself to Dean. “Man, I never got the crusts cut off my PB & J. I just don’t look at family the way you do.” It’s an understandable argument, but Dean’s declining state of mind couldn’t see past the hurt.Â
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All poor Sam could do at this point was stick by his brother, no matter how bad Dean felt about him. He also wasn’t about to back down from God’s rejection. He was determined to find another way, even when Castiel and Dean had given up hope. Sam was finding he might have to take the lead on this fight.
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99 Problems
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“I got one thing, one thing keeping me going. You think you’re the only one white knuckling it here Dean? I can’t count on anyone else. I can’t do this alone.”
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The difference between Sam and Dean here was Sam held onto hope that he and Dean together could save the worldwhile Dean had lost all hope because it was only he and Sam. So why the difference? For one, Sam had already learned the hard way what happens when he went off on his own. Sam’s single minded focus at this point was to clean up the mess he started. As we have learned, once Sam gets focused on something, he won’t stop until he reaches that goal. He needed his brother though to keep him in check, to make sure he didn’t stray or go too far. He was still having issues trusting himself. Â
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Sam’s priority though had to shift to keep Dean’s head in the game. He didn’t fully grasp what was troubling his big brother. He gotDean was tired and feeling a little hopeless but he didn’t realize how bad it was. Not until Dean was able to kill the Whore of Babylon which only could be done by a true servant of God. He wisely took that as a sign that Dean was going to say yes to Michael. All priorities shifted when Dean took off. Getting his brother back in the game became Sam’s main purpose.
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Point of No Return
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A Sam fan’s dream episode. Our boy grows up big time! If one episode could be picked as THE Sam Winchester character definer, this is it.
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Sam was able to find Dean before it was too late, for little brother too knew big brother’s patterns and guessed right that he would go see Lisa. When Samfound Dean in the motel room, he was so hurt and betrayed. He didn’t give up though and made it clear he was there to stop him. Dean was in a bad placeand eluded to “When The Levee Breaks” when Sam bested him while hopped up on demon blood. Sam had already thought of that and came prepared. Enter one pissed off fallen angel who now was following Sam’s lead instead of Dean’s.
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Oh yes, this episode was all about role reversal. Sam proved he too could take charge and be level headed in a deep crisis. Adam was resurrected and Sam had to control both defiant brothers who were ready to say yes to Michael. Adam gaveSam plenty of crap but Dean knew how to really hurt hard. He told Sam bluntly he had no faith in him. Lucifer would find a way to turn him and “when” they turned him Dean had to be the one to stop him.  Yep, that brought Sam to tears.Â
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A shaken Sam absorbed that blow and still held things together with Dean out of action. Then both Dean and Adam fled. Luckily Castiel found Dean in time but now Sam alone had decide the next move. Enter his coming of age. Sam went against Castiel’s and Bobby’s wishes and puts his full faith in Dean. He decided to take Dean with him and Castiel to rescue Adam. He made that choice despite Dean’s promises that he’d say yes. He believed Dean would do the right thing when the time happened. Dean even coldly told Sam if the tables were turned he’d let him rot in the panic room. Heck, he did once. Sure that comment stung but Sam didn’t let that change his mind. “Well, I guess I’m not that smart.” Dean had to know why he was doing this. “Because, you’re still my big brother.”
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This was the ultimate test of faith. Sam had already learned, sometimes under tragic circumstances, that no matter what Dean was the one that he could always count on. All those times he ran away before, he was wrong and Dean stayed by him. So when everything, like the fate of the world, rode on Sam’s decision he chose Dean. He didn’t do it out of desperation. He did it out of faith.
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Naturally, the sneak attack went wrong and Sam was wounded. He helplessly on the ground watched Dean say yes, the ultimate punch in the gut. His shattered look said it all, everything he believed in was lost. Oh, but that look of crushing disappointment was what finally got through. Big brother couldn’t let little brother down. That was the ultimate family test and reinforced the core theme of this show. Family above all.
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Sam’s smile at the end when Dean told him why he changed his mind and they’ll fight their way said it all. Dean was back and Sam couldn’t be more relieved. Together he could finally get that redemption. What a beautiful moment.
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Just stumbled across this website so I’ve never posted here before but after reading that felt compelled to. Alice, you are a god(ess). Your knowledge of the show and its characters is amazing (and humbling). Unfortunately, I can see myself not getting out of bed for a week while I trawl through the archive! Thanks a million and keep up the excellent work.
I’m so glad this site was recommended to me. I’ve not had the time to read through back articles like I want to but I’m trying to keep up with the new ones. I love everything you said in this article. Sam’s journey has been such sad one.
There were a few season five episodes where I thought opportunities were wasted with both boys but overall I was very satisfied with the whole season and I was glad Sam was able to find the redemption he so desperately wanted although his self-loathing broke my freaking heart!
If Supernatural had ended at the end of season five, I could have lived with it but I’m very excited to see how they continue on and how Sam’s experience in hell will stack up against Dean’s. I can only imagine that spending time with Lucifer was not a walk in the park.
Alice, what can I say – you know how much I love Sam and how much I rooted for him, just as you did – and you paid him a lovely tribute here.
It is bittersweet with the Winchesters, naturally, as there are no happy endings. But there are hardly any in life, and I do hope that the price they – and Sam, as we’re talking about the younger brother – had to pay will somehow, one far day, grant them peace of mind. NOt as long as the show will be on air, probably, as drama sells, but perhaps one day, when the show will come to an end (and I hope that to be in the far, far future) we might see them truly at peace.
Personally, I hope, Sam finds some of it after his great sacrifice.
Thank you, ever again, Jas
P.S: On a selfishly shallow note – thanks for inserting some of my favourite Sam-pictures from the show, as the bar-fight scene in FreeToBeYouAndMe…
Welcome to the site, Tim the Enchanter – always happy to welcome a first-time-poster! Enjoy browsing through the archives… Please, do come back, if you like, and I’m sure I speak for all of us if I say we hope you will feel welcome here and have fun along the ride.
Cheers! Jasminka
Great article, Alice. So sad for Sam. Jas, in real life there ARE happy endings…it’s just that they don’t sell well. People like to watch others that are worse off they are…sad to say. But, we can HOPE for better times for the boys.
Life as a dedicated Sam girl has been rather difficult these past few years. I’ve managed, and I’ve held my ground in the face of adversity, but it’s been tough. But this article really showed why this season is my favorite. Sam’s journey to find redemption is one of the most tragic, heart-breaking, and heroic stories that I have ever witnessed in my life. He had every possible curve-ball thrown his way, and though they sometimes took him down temporarily, he always got back up again, stronger than before. He is a hero in every sense of the word, and while my heart shatters into a million pieces just by thinking about Swan Song, it still fills me with such pride to think about his final sacrifice. Well, not final, since he’s ALIVE!
Thank you for writing this. It’s always nice to see somebody else write a perfect justification for the Sam girls in this fandom! =]
What amazes me in this article is that you describe E-X-A-C-T-L-Y the way I see Sam (in general) and the way I saw him in every episode this season! Thank you!
Alice,
I love your commentaries on the brothers and this indepth look at Sam was what I’d expected…excellent!
You capture so many of my thoughts and even added some new dimenstions (for which I thank you). Like you I saw Sam as standing strong this season and taking the emotional battering that in the past would have had him leaving. He’d always ‘run away’ when he wanted what he wanted and came up against the brick wall that was John Winchester but this time be it Bobby, Castiel, Dean, other hunters Sam came through and took his lumps. Sam truly learned his lesson from Season 4.
The line in Free To Be You and Me from ‘Jessica’ to Sam resonates even stronger in light of Brady’s reveal in The Devil You Know (which I think also alludes to Brady in a circular way) “I was dead the moment you met me.” Well, yes, Jessica but that’s because ‘Brady’ et al were there manipulating things…awful!
Thanks for writing this, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Sam just kills me. To think back to the boy we saw in the pilot, happy with his girlfiend and a bright future…..sob. He never really had a chance and that is just plain sad. Sam in season 5 knew he was doomed from the first minute of the first episode. But I love that he was able to take all the junk that was done to him and turn it around and use it to save the world. The one thing the angels and demons didn’t take into account when they decided that they were going to use Sam and Dean to end the world was the love between them.
Loved the analysis! I’m a big Sam fan too! So it felt great to have him be the martyred hero of the story!
Glad we have season 6, can’t really get enough.
No, life is not easy for a Samgirl. To start with, my feelings are curiously mixed. I’m so, so proud of Sammy for the sacrifice he made but at the same time my heart is crushed for his horrible fate. Not to mention the really nasty things about him I had to hear in the past and still hear. There are some who think that his sacrifice was “cheesy” and that he got unddeserved credit by doing so. :cry::
That’s why articles like yours are a treasure to me, alice. Thank you so much. 😀
All you Sam girls should be extremely proud of your boy, err, man. For he is NOT that “snot-nosed” little kid that Dean has to protect and keep safe anymore. He made a big, huge mistake at the end of Season 4 (although with good intentions) but he was blinded by his inner demons and his desire for revenge and justice.
Alice, I loved your analysis of our Sam. Very insightful and understanding and it helped me to truly see and understand this very complex character. Although I am a Dean girl, I truly do love Sam and admire and respect him for all that he accomplished this past year. He goofed up, big time, and spent the rest of the year trying to redeem himself not only in the eyes of his brother and others, but redeem himself in his own eyes. Falling is hard, but you can measure the greatness of a man (or woman) by the way they approach the difficult road ahead of him. In Season 4, Sam chose to live the difficult road ahead of him by being drunk, seeking revenge and siding with a demon. However, he learned his lessons and this year he didn’t make the same mistakes and he was able to approach his road to reparation from a more mature viewpoint.
As was pointed out, I do think the beginning of Sam’s turning point to redemption came in Dark Side of the Moon. In that episode he saw what kind of affect his actions had had on Dean. So many times when we are in the depth of pain, we only see our side, we don’t care about anybody else’s side, we only care about our own. In this episode, Sam finally came to the point where he was able to look outside his own pain and see Dean’s pain and understand it and from there he was able to use this knowledge as a stepping stone to getting past the issues that have held him for so long. Dean, however, had not as yet been able to see Sam’s pain because he was too far into the pit of depression and his hole was eating him up. But Sam, well, Sam was awesome here and was finally able to mentally break through his barrier and Dean’s barrier.
We see his continuing growth in 99 Problems and it finally manifests itself in Point of No Return as was so eloquently talked about in your article about the pivotal episode of Season 5. I loved Sam’s moments with Adam, his take-charge attitude, the way Bobby and Castiel now followed his command instead of Deans and then the heartbreaking moments he shared with Dean. Sam showed maturity beyond his years, having learned his lessons and when he says “you’re still my big brother”, well, I still tear up with that comment. It was said so lovingly and respectfully to Dean, of who Dean is to him, that you can’t help but just love this guy. Then finally when his look of utter disappointment in Dean after Dean said Yes, which is the look that ultimately saves Dean, well, one just can’t help but be so proud of this man, who will always be our Sammy. Who saved the day, his brother, his friends and mankind. God Bless Sam Winchester! May he be able to continue to rise above his challenges, forge a new relationship with his brother and become a better and stronger man because of all that he has experienced.
@AndreaW haters will always be haters… Of course every time I read sth bad about Sammy it makes my stomach hurt, but I’m getting over it as time goes by… what really helps is finding out that there are a lot more Sam girls than some people want to believe. Where have you been hiding girls??? 😀
Seriously now, I may be a Sam girl, but i also love Dean very very much and besides that’s what makes me a fan of Supernatural, right? How can you say that you love the show, when you hate one of the brothers??? I have only discovered Supernatural last August and when I started digging the internet about the show, I could have never imagined that there would be a Sam vs Dean war among the fandom and especially that there would be so much hate for Sam (it was after the end of season 4, but as far as I was concerned, that season made me love Sammy even more!!!). So, it was a great shock for me and it’s still giving me a hard time, but in the end who cares? We got what we wanted for our Sammy, right? A redemption, a heroic death and his come back!!! Plus we got our lost bromance back even in that tragic way! Because the brotherly love is the heart of Supernatural!!!
ARIS3, you’re right – one cannot love the show with loving only one brother and hate the other, it does not really get along with the arc of the story, does it? Or if there are indeed people out there who do – I would love to hear how it can be possible.
As I have always been a ‘SamGirl’ from the beginning, I couldn’t imagine not loving Dean, too. Both have a place in my heart, yet in a different way, and I like it that way. I do love the show and I love its theme of standing up to the ones you love – be it blood family or the one that doesn’t end with blood. It’s how I live my life, anyway.
Cheers Jas
Hi Alice
Once again many thanks for all your hard work and for this wonderful analysis of Sam, I guess this was a real labour of love of love for you.
Sams journey through this season was a hard road for him to tread and for us to follow, so many heartbreaking moments, but he was magnificent in Swan Song and I cannot wait to see where the fallout from his huge sacrifice takes us. It has been said before but all you `Sam Girls` have every right to be very proud of your `boy`.
I am also totally confused at how anyone can say they love this show and then claim to `hate` one of the brothers, The Winchesters come as a package!
Poor old sweetheart, if it wasn’t for the bad luck he wouldn’t have no luck at all 😆
I know we’re really all here for the lashings of sado-masochistic gloom but I hope things perk up a bit next season, too much pathos verges on bathos you writer-guys … Give him a break! ( You can still kill him off/beat him up every other episode but you know, with descretion, like … )
Hey Alice,
thank you for taking a deeper look under the surface of Sam and writing it here on this side. I am so grateful for the oportunity to read this analysis and I don`t want to stop. I have to say sometimes when just another hit came in the show against Sam (like the “clap”, or these comercial in CC )I really started to feel angry and wrote sometimes angry words on the CW Board, because I felt like they wanted to show us that every furt in the universe is Sam`s fault. And I was so angry that the writers alienated Sam from all the other people, Bobby, Ellen, Jo, Sam had really almost none connection to others. Even Crowley called him ..what? a rabid dog (or someting similar) that is really hard to take. Knowing where he started in the series as a person who was connected with other people, who wanted ..and lived …a normal life. And this sort of life ..that was Sam..what he wanted…The revelation that Sam (even as a child) was under demonic influence and kept nonetheless so beyond human and softhearted speakes volumes about his character/personality. I feel so sad for Sam when I think, he made new friends, getting teachers and started to have a sort of relationship and ….bam…the higher demons picked them up to manipulate him. I wonder about what they did say or what they tried. Brady for example seemed to be very close to Sam and when the demon possessed him, the demon introduced him to his beloved Jess. The friend “Brady” fell apart and Sam tried to bring him back. And there were more possessed people. It ripped my heart out to see that in the finale. I am…till today…not over it. As much as I love the finale I feel like a big lump is in my stomach and doesn`t get any better although with the knowledge Sam was under this street lamp in the end (and so not in hell or only a short time.
And about brother versus brother fans, that is not me. I love them both, I love their interaction, their emotional fallouts, when they are arguing I understand both…starting to read US Forums (I am from Germany) about SN taught me I have to pay attention, WHERE I read and WHAT and WHOSE comments and I had once a side to read (in the start) where I was terrified about the comments. But I deleted the side from my computer. I thought back then the internet is like a killing field and the Sam bashing brought me even more to take side to this extraordinary charismatic character. But the exploring of Sam is more subtile and silent and not in the forefront, so I think it is wonderful to find such metas. And I brought a few metas already to the CW-Board with the name of the writer and the name of the side. I copied the Dean/Bobby/Sam analyse
Once Sam said that every person has his breaking point. Sam had his breaking point when Dean was shredded to pieces right before Sam`s eyes and went to hell and Sam couldn`t save him. Dean said to Sam: Keep fighting. Sam did..and barely survived and didn`t want to …but he kept fighting in using these powers…now we know he drank blood to get access to the powers, but he kept figthing in his own…way. Sorry if this is chaotic and to long…
Yeah my heart is still shredded to pieces like Dean was from the hell hounds,and I am shredded from Swan Song, but Sam… Sam needed this redemption so badly for himself, so I was relieved for him but …its just to hard to take!
THANK YOU!
Thanks again for a great analysis, Alice. I just had a chance to read your commentary on Dean earlier today, & now read this one on Sam. I am so proud of the character, especially after we discovered that he has been manipulated & basically “screwed” by supernatural forces his entire life. Yet he overcame it all & gained redemption & made that great sacrifice that still brings tears to my eyes just to think about it.
How anyone could call that cheesy is beyond me! I may be slightly more of a Dean girl but I love Sam too. I guess that makes me a Winchester girl, & darn proud of them both!
Hi Alice
Your article was wonderful, so supportive and understanding.
I don’t really have much more to add then what has already been said here.
As much as I could understand and feel for Dean, I could also see Sam’s side as well. All last year I too wondered how Dean was supposed to kill Lillith. I too believed Sam’s powers was the only way to defeat her. I really sympathized and understood why Sam was doing what he was doing. And the price he ended up paying, was heartbreaking.
oh wow! great article!!!^_______^
Great analyse! But I think we can add that Sam was help a lot by surprise in the finale. Lucifer didn’t care about the car, so he didn,t understand why sam got his attention caught by a little soldier and before Lucifer understood what was happening, Sam ”grab him”^^
Leslie92718, it’s always nice to meet a fellow Samgirl. Be welcome. 🙂