MysteryGuest

Like I said, we're just going to have to agree to disagree. I simply don't see this the same way some of you do, and that's ok. To each his own. As a Dean fan, I just never really feel that he's getting the short end of the stick in the storylines. That doesn't mean I'm always happy with the writing, or the story arcs, but I don't see Dean faring any worse than Sam does when the writing goes sideways.

This isn't at all how I saw that scene, so again, we'll need to agree to disagree. Sam was trying to rally the other hunters to help them with the BMOL, but I never saw anything to indicate that he expected Dean to follow him. He and Dean were going to lead them together. Sam taking a leadership role doesn't relegate Dean to a lowly follower. And frankly, when Dean was leading and Sam felt he was following, he was never treated as a lowly follower by Dean, nor did I ever see him that way.

I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree on this. Why should Sam surrender any leadership of the AU people to Dean the minute he returned? That would be absurd, IMO. Dean clearly had some issues going on, and he was pretty obvious about wanting no part in "leading" the AU hunters, and Sam had it under control. And Dean hasn't just been wandering around doing nothing. He hung out in his room for a week after being released from Michael's possession, but I would think he'd earned that. Then he was right back at doing what they've always done. As for Sam's speech about leading, it didn't take anything away from Dean. Dean was proud of him, and said as much when he opted to stay behind and try to save Mary. Again, I don't see growth for Sam as taking anything away from Dean.

I've been pretty consistent in saying that it's bad writing, across the board. I just don't see a reason to feel slighted on Dean's behalf. I watch the show, and I basically watch for Dean and for the brother's relationship. I honestly don't see what others are seeing, or I don't interpret it the same way. Maybe it's simply that I don't frequent any sites where people discuss how bad Dean is and how great Sam is. I go by what I see with my own eyes, not someone else's opinion. Because these writers are so bad at telling stories, I'm not going to rely on them to tell me who Dean or Sam are. They're just not good at it anymore. I've watched 14 seasons of this show, and I know who they are, even when the show runners sometimes don't.

I don't see how Sam's taking more of a leadership role has in any way diminished Dean's natural abilities. Why does it have to be either or? At no time did anyone say that "now that Dean sucks, Sam's going to have to pick up the slack". That has never been said or even inferred, in my opinion. Any praise for Sam is not a slam against Dean. I love Dean and he is far and away my favorite character, but not everything good that happens to Sam is somehow bad for Dean. We know that Dean's a strong and able hunter. We know he's a natural leader. We know he'd lay down and die for any of the people he considers family without batting an eye, and that he'd risk his life for absolute strangers. He can be impulsive, but it's always out of his desire to fix the problem. He's smart, intuitive, and kind hearted. All of these things are great qualities that Dean possesses and are the reasons why I like him so much. No "propping up", or positive words about Sam take anything away from who Dean is. In the same way that speaking positively about Dean in any way means that Sam is somehow less than. I honestly don't understand why everything is somehow looked at as a shot against Dean. The writers have consistently fucked with both brother's characters whenever they've felt the need, but I agree with AwesomeO4000 that Sam has been the brunt of the worst of the character assassinations. I will just point to season 8 and leave it at that.

I think they had to make a point of showing that Sam has now embraced the hunting life because they spent so many of the early seasons telling us just the opposite. He wanted to go back to school, he wanted a normal life, he thought his upbringing was dysfunctional as hell. But if you're going to continue to do the same thing for 14 years, you need to come around to accepting what you do, or you look like an ass for still doing it. Sam didn't really acknowledge "enjoying" hunting until he was talking to Charlie while they were looking for a cure for the Mark of Cain. It took him a long time to make peace with the idea and I think he now takes pride in what they do. Dean embraced his father's outlook on hunting from the get go. Lots of reasons for that...wanting his father's approval, feeling responsible for Sam, etc., but I think he also genuinely liked the idea of hunting. There were bad things out there, and he was pretty good at getting rid of them. He was content with the "saving people, hunting things" mission statement and never really questioned it. I don't mean to say that he's never thought about another life for himself, but I just think he was resigned to the fact that this is what he was meant to do. Sam always balked against the idea, but Dean never did. I never minded that they had totally different perspectives, because it definitely made their relationship more interesting.

I don't really see Dean deferring to Sam. Yes, Sam took charge of the AU people when Dean wasn't around, but even that only lasted for an episode or two. Sam acknowledged a few seasons ago that he needed to take the lead more and follow less. That's positive growth for Sam. Dean had always been a leader, so it wasn't an area he needed to work on. So, if Dean chooses to occasionally defer to Sam as a way of supporting and encouraging him, I don't have an issue with that. We had a lot of years of Dean making the decisions, so having Sam take on more of that role, or just more of an equal role, doesn't bother me. And it doesn't appear to bother Dean, either. In fact, maybe Dean feels less of a burden now, since it's not all on him. Sam, Jack and Cas have all told Dean that he's not to blame about Michael, and that they all understand why he did what he did. The writers should have included the line "and saved the world" at least somewhere in their comments, but we know they kinda suck, so we have to fill those blanks in ourselves. I know why Dean did what he did. Yes, he wanted to save Sam above all else, but he also had run out of options. Lucifer was loose and more powerful than ever, and hell bent on destruction. Where the writers completely failed is by bringing Lucifer back, in any form. It definitely takes the edge off Dean's sacrifice, and weakens the impact of Michael, IMO, knowing that Lucifer is looming somewhere out there. All of the screen time spent having Lucifer/Nick run around trying to solve the mystery of his wife and child's murder (which I couldn't care less about if I tried) would have been much better spent on giving us more insight into the Michael/Dean connection, and just what Michael's plan for the world is. If it's just hybrid monsters, then we need to actually see them win some battles and give us a reason to fear them on behalf of Sam, Dean, Cas and Jack. So far, that hasn't really happened.

I'm not sure it's fair to compare the brother's relationship from the early seasons to the current seasons. Considering all they've been through, and the fact that they're not young men anymore (no, they're not old, but they're not kids), it's not too surprising that their senses of humor are harder to find. I miss the humor as much as the next person, but I think it makes sense within the story. It seemed that people were getting tired of the overt co-dependence between the brothers, and now that they've backed off from that and made them each more independent, it doesn't feel the same. But I do think it's actually a normal progression for the characters. It also makes it easier for the writers to expand the amount of time one or the other brother is on the screen. Considering they're in less scenes now than ever, if they were in the majority of those scenes together, it would seem like they're barely in their own show. It already feels that way sometimes, regardless. But all of that being said, I still think their bond as brothers is unchanged.

I swear I must be the only person who isn't the least bit interested in superhero movies of any kind. The only ones I enjoy are the Deadpool movies, for the simple reason that he makes fun of all of the other superhero movies. Yes, I'm weird, or old, or both, actually. As a fan of Jensen's acting, and his face, having him do a voiceover for some animated batman movie would be my least favorite thing for him to do. I'd love another quirky indie movie like 10 Inch Hero. Not specifically a comedy or romance, but just some role that he could really stretch himself with.

I'm thinking the brewery myself. Plus, she's still in an active role on the show, so maybe more working together in their future? Who knows. It just seemed like a pretty happy post to me, that's all. I didn't get any sinister vibes from it, or anything intimating that the end of SPN was any nearer than we already assumed it was.

I think it's inevitable that the show come to an end, and probably soon. My guess is, if they actually go beyond this season, next season will be the last. With no improvement in writing or show-running on the horizon, it's probably for the best. As for my comment on the Tin Hats, that wasn't directed toward you, or anyone in particular. It's just that whenever we get pictures of the J's with their wives, it inevitably brings out lots of comments about the state of their relationships. Most of which just make me shake my head. I'm intrigued...what kind of secret? It seemed pretty straight forward to me. They just enjoyed a quick trip to Danneel's favorite city. Having triplets in my family, I know that outings like that are challenging to say the very least with 3 young kids in tow.

I don't really get that from what she's saying. I'm sure it's nice when he's on hiatus and they can just pick up and do something spontaneous like drive to New Orleans, but they're very used to the lives they lead. I'm not saying they'll stick with Supernatural much longer, but I don't think this particular post is a foretelling of that. It does give the Tin Hatters plenty of fodder for discussion, however. People have some particularly active imaginations.

Interesting. I never really saw it that way. I think it was obvious that Sam was just as devastated by their loss as Dean was. The only difference for me was the kiss between Dean and Jo at the end.

This episode makes me cry every time. I hate it and love it at the same time.

Well, I think JDM looks fine, but he definitely looks older than when he was on the show. His return is really going to have to involve some scenario where he doesn't die and has aged normally. It's too bad that we have to look forward to this 300th episode with more trepidation than excitement. I wish that weren't the case.

I've never before been the least bit interested in a celebrity's children. Not sure why I enjoy seeing these little kiddos as much as I do, but it's fun to get these little glimpses of their family lives. I'm sure there's probably something not totally healthy about that, but I don't seem to care.

They're all absolutely adorable! Including the big guy!

I wasn't even thinking about this being the 300th episode. I agree it should be about both brothers. That makes me even less interested in having John Winchester come back. Maybe they'll surprise me, but I just don't see how this works if John comes back in real time.

I'm sure their issues aren't 100% resolved, but a lot of time has gone by. Dean is a grown man now, and I don't think he's carries all of that anger and resentment with him anymore. IMO, Sam's issues are more from the guilt he feels, thinking that his father died believing that Sam hated him. I personally don't believe that John did feel that way, and really don't have any burning desire to have him come back. I like JDM just fine, but they've brought back so many characters lately that it doesn't feel particularly special to me to have John come back now. It seems like more of a gimmick to me.

The humor is definitely not the same, that's for sure. And the dialogue was so much more clever in the earlier seasons. Ah well, at least we have plenty of seasons to watch when we're in the mood.

If John has to come back now, as opposed to when the series ends, then I'm hoping it's something along the lines of WIAWSNB. Let Sam have his look at what might have been with John, if they hadn't been at odds all of the time. I personally don't feel that Dean has unfinished business with his father. John acknowledged that he'd pushed him too hard, and made him grow up too fast. He had a chance to apologize to Dean and to tell him how proud of him he was before he died. Dean knows why John was the way he was, and he's already had his closure with Mary. I don't think that Dean has any burning desire, or need, to tell his father off at this point. My only concern is that I thought I read that Mary actually gets to see him, so that would probably mean he comes back to real time. Oh well...

Yes, it's very kind of her to share. And he does look very cuddly in his pjs. She's a lucky woman!

Congrats to Jensen for making #9 on the list. Beauty certainly is subjective though. Half of that list wouldn't make my top 1,000.

Oh man, I love sloths! I can see why they'd sell out. My niece got a set of sloth sheets for Christmas. There's nothing cuter than a baby sloth, IMO.

I've heard Jared talk about the beanie as sort of a security blanket, but I think he probably likes to wear them, too. It's sort of his thing. My head is always the first thing to overheat on me, so I can't imagine wearing that around in the Texas sun, but it must not bother him. I'm trying to figure out what's on Jensen's pajamas, but I can't quite tell. Are they bears? Regardless, it's a cute picture of the two of them.