The transformation of the Winchester relationship over the years on Supernatural
Supernatural Season 14 will see the Winchesters separated again. This time it’s from a sacrifice Dean made to save his brother. Let’s take a look back at the transformation of that bond between brothers.
#TransformationTuesday is a good time to look at how things have changed. What better show to include change than Supernatural? This is a series that has adapted to survive for 13 years! Supernatural Season 14 will see the Winchester brothers separated yet again–notice how it’s always the odd number season finales that separate the Winchesters?–but this time for a sacrifice Dean made to save his brother. And Sam isn’t going to stop until he gets his brother back.
Here’s a look at that transformation of the Winchester relationship over the years. There’s the good, the bad, and the ugly.
When Sam didn’t want to be in the family business
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Way back in the first season, Sam wanted nothing to do with the family business. The pilot saw him join Dean purely for one weekend. When that was over, he was heading back to law school. Things changed and soon Sam only joined Dean for revenge. He wanted to find John and kick the creature-ass that killed Mary and Jess.
Over the first couple of years that bond changed immensely. Sam realized that he didn’t just want revenge. Sure, he wanted it but he also started to see that there was more to hunting. Dean knew that hunting was about saving people at the same time, making a sacrifice to fight off the djinn’s wish world when he could have died in a sort of paradise world.
The Winchesters would spend part of each season apart, sometimes just an episode and sometimes a little more. Both would go their own way thinking they were doing the best for the world, only to find that they actually needed each other.
The hiccup years
I like to call Supernatural Seasons 6-8 the hiccup years. After the first five seasons were planned out, new showrunners came in and the writers needed to develop new storylines and a plan. That led to Sam and Dean wanting vastly different things. In fact, Sam returned from the cage without a soul, making him a shadow of his former self. In some ways it made him a better hunter, but it definitely made him a worse brother.
The Winchester bond suffered slightly. Dean would never let his little brother suffer, but he couldn’t trust Sam. Then Sam decided to leave his brother in Purgatory (and he didn’t know that was where Dean was) and have a normal life after the Season 7 finale. Things were off. Way off.
In the Season 8 finale, Sam apologized for everything he did. It was almost like an apology to the viewers for the bad decision to have Sam choose a normal life over finding his brother. But what it also did was strengthen the Winchester bond temporarily.
Finally back on track
It took a while, but by Supernatural Season 10, the Winchester relationship was back on track. There was a point that it didn’t look like it would happen. Charlie’s death was a difficult point for Dean and he blamed Sam. This looked like a rift that could never be healed, but Dean turned it all around by killing Death.
The release of the Darkness helped the Winchesters get back on track a little. However, it wasn’t until Supernatural Season 12 that the bond really got back to what it once was. While many of us don’t like the British Men of Letters storyline for one reason or another, it was positive for one thing. Dean encouraged his brother to take a leadership position, something Sam didn’t have the confidence to do. Sure, maybe some of it was because Dean was injured, but the old Dean would have pushed through the pain and made things worse. This Dean proved that he had faith in his little brother.
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There were times in the last season that it looked like the bond was on a rocky patch again, but by the finale, Dean and Sam were mostly on the same page. They both wanted to save Mary and found a way to save the people in the Apocalypse World together. With Dean gone, Sam will be on the train to find out where his brother is and save him.
Next: 13 top throwbacks in Supernatural Season 13
What do you think of the transformation of the Winchester relationship over the years? Where have the turning points been for good and bad? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
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