The first season of The Winchesters is taking fans back to a time before Sam and Dean, following the monstrous adventures of a young John and Mary Winchester. Supernatural fans who have stood by the Winchester brothers for their 15-year-long run on television are glad to see the SPN universe back in action. However, while fans around the world have been on this crazy ride with the Winchesters all these years, not everyone has great things to say about them.
The younger Winchester is widely considered to be intellectually inclined and the brains behind the brother duo. Sam is smart, patient, skilled with a stack of books, and has given up a normal life and law career for the so-called "family business." Still, some fans have taken to Reddit to express just how unimpressed they are with Sam Winchester, the boy with the demon blood.
Updated on November 6th, 2022 by Gabby Etzel: The Winchesters is bringing all the mystical action that Supernatural fans love back to the screen. However, seeing characters take down ghosts, vampires, and demons without Sam and Dean is making most fans miss the brothers–Especially Sam, since audiences get a taste of Dean with his voiceover narration. Not everyone has always loved the younger Winchester, though, and it is interesting to look back on the few and far between negative opinions about Sam.
Sam Is Way Too Whiny & Entitled
Redditor betrbleave comments that Sam is far too whiny and entitled. The fan goes as far as to wish that the writers had replaced Sam completely, citing the Winchester's many complaints about "wanting to be normal, demon blood, banging demons, every girl he's ever been with in the show..."
For the first few seasons, Sam Winchester's arc had taken him down a very convoluted path. While his choices at this point were no doubt questionable, this was simply depicting the character's struggle. Most fans feel that he is doing the best he can while handling addiction and apocalyptic circumstances as such a young and jaded man who has all normalcy ripped away from him.
He Should Have Looked For Dean In Purgatory
At the end of season 7, Dean gets sucked into Purgatory with the Leviathan supremo, Dick Roman. He returns only to find that Sam had moved on and hadn't tried to find out what could have happened to him. One Redditor states that Sam should have looked for Dean and not gone off with a woman, Amelia, both for the sake of his brother and because "all he's doing is putting the girl in danger."
However, for the majority of fans, Sam's decision, despite the fact that it goes against the character's personality, makes sense given the broader picture. After all, Dean has always wanted Sam to have a so-called normal life, away from the horrors of hunting. One of the things that prevented the brothers from ever moving on was holding on to each other and never letting go. The fact that Sam tries to do the healthy thing actually seems to be a step in the right direction.
Sam Isn't The Best Brother
Redditor Poppycorn144 hates the fact that Sam doesn't seem to care for Dean enough, citing his "repeated betrayals." The user points out how Sam chooses Ruby over Dean, which several villains in the show also hold against the brothers. Most of Sam's best memories also seemed to exclude his own family which was particularly ungrateful of him.
While there were moments when Supernatural fans wondered if Dean and Sam's relationship made any sense, the one thing any fan can vouch for is that the brothers love each other deeply. In fact, their love for one another is a catalyst for most of the action on the show, and their dynamic would not work as well if Sam did not care Dean as much as the older Winchester loves his "Sammy." They do their best to keep each other safe, including deals with the devil that border on dangerous codependency.
Sam Isn't That Great Of A Hunter
Redditor Thranduilien writes, "I can't help but think that Sam is good at research but really bad at fighting. Everyone always seems to get the drop on him and he constantly needs to be rescued." Sam is known for hitting the books and coming up with answers for each and every hunt, but to say that he's bad at fighting might be a little harsh for most fans.
Sam and Dean both are considered expert hunters and the best at what they do. Of course, in the earlier seasons, they are still learning the craft and often need a skilled hunter like Bobby Singer to bail them out of difficult situations. Eventually, Sam, like Dean, becomes a top-notch hunter that monsters fear. He even leads a large gang of hunters that the brothers save from the Apocalypse world, who all trust and respect him for his leadership.
The Writing For Sam's Character Deteriorated
Another not-so-popular opinion suggests that the writing for the character had made Sam almost unlikable and even two-dimensional. One Redditor writes, "I feel like they've written his character into a stupid place where he's always angry or being ignorant to everything."
Most fans would concur that Sam is the more book-smart of the two brothers. In fact, he is by far one of the most intelligent of the Supernatural hunters when it comes to sheer knowledge. Very few people would consider him ignorant. Overall, while audiences argue that the writing for the later seasons was generally not up to the mark, Sam Winchester's character alone did not necessarily suffer.
Dean Should Hunt With Castiel
A similar opinion by DxGypsy goes that Dean sacrifices himself and his chance at happiness for Sam over and over again and got very little in return. They say, "Dean should ditch Sam and his pretty hair on some roadside and go hunting with Castiel from now on."
This seemingly harsh take goes against the grain since Sam is integral to the story, as is all the resistance that he provides. The bond between the brothers and the familial relationships are central to the show, perhaps even more than all the fantastical elements. The two brothers hunt together, but their relationship is layered with complexity just like any sibling pair. Despite the love that fans have for Castiel, it is difficult to imagine Dean without Sam. Plus, Castiel's celestial abilities would make hunting a little too easy for the angel.
Shipping Sam & Rowena
One very unusual opinion on Reddit is put forward by HouseHightower about shipping the witch Rowena McLeod with Sam Winchester. The fan feels that the two share chemistry regardless of whether they end up as lovers, writing, "Rowena has become one of my favorite screen partners for Sam."
Now, over the years, Sam and Dean's paths have crossed paths with many impressive women, but unfortunately, given the kind of lives the brothers lead, no real long-term relationship runs its course until the epilogue. Yet, while Sam has been shipped with Jessica, his first love, and Madison, the first woman he really liked after Jessica, very few fans would have imagined him with the centuries-old witch Rowena, lovers or otherwise.
Dean & Benny Are Better Than Dean & Sam
It is peculiar enough that some fans think Dean should hunt without Sam, but Redditor redditutgers poses a unique replacement for the younger Winchester. They write, "At this point, I'd be totally fine if Sam was cut and Dean and Benny went around everywhere."
Fans will recall the vampire Benny as a good monster who befriends Dean Winchester during his time in Purgatory. Benny fights as brothers in arms with Dean and is an unappreciated hero Supernatural. However, while fans love Benny and his relationship with Dean, it would be going too far for Benny to replace Sam altogether. Benny's lack of interest in hunting his own kind aside, there would be no Supernatural without Sam Winchester and Dean would never let anyone else take Sammy's place.
Eileen Wasn't Right For Sam
Redditor throwawaynashville11 states that the woman who would have been the right one for Sam never really came on screen. In a very unpopular opinion, the fan maintains that Eileen's chemistry with Sam never works, writing, "I find their relationship cringy and forced."
Given how Eileen Leahy has been shipped with Sam ever since the show hinted at a possible relationship blooming between them, this user's view is not widely shared. However, for many years, Sam has not had a profoundly intimate relationship with any women. In fact, after Amelia, whom he meets while Dean is in Purgatory, he hasn't really been with anyone at all. When Eileen is resurrected in season 15, fans love the rare connection that Sam makes with her and hope they would end up together.
Sam Destroys Dean
Reddit user zombicat says, "Dean annoys Sam, but Sam destroys Dean by going for his most vulnerable fears. They often write it like Dean loves Sam more than Sam loves Dean." Dean Winchester has been through a tremendous amount of pain in feeling responsible for his brother, living in fear of Sam dying or going down the wrong path.
However, while Sam and Dean are both stubborn and each is the other's weakness, it would perhaps be too harsh to state that Sam destroys Dean. As far as popular perception goes, the brothers care for each other. Dean feels things more acutely, as Castiel observes so astutely in season 15, but Sam does love his brother and he only betrays him with the best intentions.