Supernatural has grown quite a bit since it was first aired back in 2005. While it was once a simple show about two demon-hunting brothers, it’s become much more than that. The series has grown to include everything from evil angels to the actual apocalypse.
While fans have grown to love an abundance of new characters, Sam and Dean Winchester have always been at the center of the show. Characters like Castiel and Crowley are obviously very important to the plot of Supernatural, but the brothers and their relationship is where the show started and what it has grown around. Without their dynamic, the show wouldn’t be the same.
The pair has certainly endured a lot throughout the past thirteen seasons and will continue to fight more battles in season fourteen. After being through so much together, their bond is a tight one to break. They definitely have a close relationship, but it isn’t perfect. While they have to include conflict and arguments in order to make the show interesting, there are times when the way they treat each other or the things they say are confusing or out of character. Fans certainly love the monster-hunting duo, but their relationship has its issues, like most fictional pairs do.
Here are the 20 Things That Make No Sense About Dean and Sam’s Relationship.
They're In A Continuous Loop Of Sacrifice
Unlike most television shows, when a character on Supernatural perishes, it doesn’t mean their loss is permanent. Sam and Dean have each lost their lives multiple times and continue to come back. Many times, it’s because one brother sacrifices themselves for another. When one of them loses their life, the other won’t let it go.
Of course it’s sad to lose a sibling, but Dean and Sam often will do anything to bring the other back, including taking the deceased brother’s place.
This leads to a cycle of one ing away until the other tries to take their place. Of course, that isn’t always the case, like when Castiel raises them both from Hell, but it’s happened enough that even the reapers had to say something. If neither brother wants to live without the other, neither will break this cycle.
They're Only Close Because They're Hunters
While Sam and Dean are extremely close now, when the show first started, they weren’t exactly on the best . When Dean shows up asking for help finding their dad, Sam is living at school with his girlfriend and has left the life behind. This is what sets him on the journey to where they’re at now, but if Dean had never shown up, they wouldn’t have a tight relationship. Without hunting, they wouldn’t be close.
In Dean’s dream after encountering a djinn, he imagines that his mother is still alive and that Sam and Jessica got married. Sam stayed in college and never became close with his brother. Without hunting, they didn’t have anything in common and barely were around each other. That’s likely what would happen if Sam hadn’t decided to Dean in the pilot episode.
They Lie To Each Other A lot
For two brothers who claim to always have each other’s backs, they sure do hide the truth from each other a lot. They constantly lie to one another despite being both brothers and hunting partners. The don’t just lie about small things either, though both brothers hide their emotions at times. Sam lied about feeling fine despite hallucinating Lucifer and about drinking demon blood.
Dean lied about his father’s last words and took forever to reveal to Sam that he may have to take his life.
Even when they don’t actually lie, they don’t reveal a lot of secrets to each other. For a pair who hunts together, they sure don’t seem to let each other in on important details.
They Still Manage To Trust Each Other
Along with straight up lying to each other, each brother harbors a large amount of secrets from the other. As brothers and hunting partners, they should be pretty open with each other, but they are anything but. They have each betrayed the other multiple times.
For example, Dean took the life of Sam’s friend Amy Pond without telling him after Sam had promised to let her live, and let Gadreel inhabit Sam without his knowledge. Sam has also done his fair share of betrayal, like when he let a vampire bite Dean and hid his relationship with Ruby. Regardless of these betrayals, Sam and Dean still hunt together and claim to have forgiven the other for their awful deeds. It doesn’t make sense to trust so freely with their baggage.
Dean Is Basically Sam's Father
While Dean and Sam put a lot of emphasis on being brothers, their relationship doesn’t always function like that of siblings. In a lot of ways, Dean has been more like a father to Sam than John ever was. Dean basically raised Sam. He was the one cooking him dinner, getting him to school, and teaching him about life in general.
Even as adults, Dean does most of the protecting and tries to watch over Sam the best he can.
Their relationship is dysfunctional and codependent and a lot of it has to do with the way they were raised. The father/son type dynamic conflicts with their dynamic as brothers and it has caused some unhealthy attachment issues.
Dean Hates That Sam Didn't Like Their Childhood
Dean and Sam grew up in the same family, but they experienced very different childhoods. Dean, however, has problems accepting this and even gets mad at Sam for having a different opinion of how they were raised.
When they went to heaven, all of Dean’s happy memories were of he and Sam, whereas Sam’s favorite memories took place away from family. Rather than be understanding, Dean got angry at Sam and said all his best memories were about leaving him. It’s like Dean doesn’t think they can be happy if they are apart from each other. While family should be important, they shouldn’t consume your entire life and be what you base your whole happiness on.
They Find Happiness Outside Of Hunting But They Always Go Back To Each Other
Both brothers have found happiness outside of the hunting life, but inevitably, they always go back to hunting alongside each other. Neither is able to escape the life if their brother is still in it. This goes all the way back to season one. Sam had found happiness with his girlfriend Jess at Stanford. Everything was fine until Dean showed up saying their dad was missing. He went back to hunting.
Dean, also, finds happiness with Lisa and Ben but goes back to hunting when he realizes that Sam is still alive.
It’s like neither brother is capable of saying no to the other. Whenever one needs them back in the hunting world they go back. They’ll never be fully satisfied living a normal life where they spend less time with each other.
Dean Forced Sam To Get His Soul Back Despite The Risks
All the way back in season six, Sam is pulled from Hell without his soul. His entire personality changed and he didn’t make any emotional decisions. Dean couldn’t handle this version of his brother and fought desperately to fix him. When they finally find a way to get Sam his soul back, they learn it could absolutely destroy him. If the wall Death puts up falls down, Sam could become an unstable, drooling mess.
Despite knowing the risks, Dean demands his brother gets his soul back even though it was incredibly dangerous and Sam doesn’t want it back. When Sam awakens, he doesn’t what happened and Dean decides not to tell him. Sam doesn’t learn what happened until he speaks with Cas. It was pretty selfish for Dean to give Sam his soul back knowing the risks.
Sam Took The Life Of Dean's Daughter With No Consequences
Sam and Dean have both taken action when one brother hesitates taking a certain action. They always try to do the right thing for each other, even when it’s hard. This was definitely the case when Sam took the life of Dean’s daughter. His daughter was an Amazon who aged much quicker than an average human. She shows up on Dean’s doorstep claiming that she wanted to leave the Amazons, when she really planned to take his life. She perishes at Sam’s hand after he shoots her to save Dean.
While it was understandable that she had to perish, it makes no sense that there was no lasting impact on their relationship after this incident.
Dean watched his own brother take the life of his daughter but neither brother speaks of it again and they never address any trauma associated with it.
Brotherhood Isn't Important When It Comes To Adam
Both Sam and Dean preach about how family is important to them. They are brothers, and that bond trumps everything else in their lives. However, it seems that concept only applies to the two of them, considering they left their other brother in Hell.
While they weren’t very close with their half-brother, he was definitely family and they were worried about him going in to the fight between Lucifer and Michael. When he falls into the pit with Sam, Dean does feel bad, but he’s obviously more focused on getting Sam back. However, once Dean gets Sam back, neither of them worry about getting Adam out, too. It doesn’t make sense for them to preach about how family is everything and then forget about their own brother.