6.12 Like A Virgin: It Was A New Day Yesterday, But It’s An Old Day Now

[bardicvoice]

6.12 Like A Virgin: It Was A New Day Yesterday, But It’s An Old Day Now

Sam wakes as Dean’s bro
With no soulless memories.
Teamed, they hunt dragons.

Comments

[erivar]

One thing that always bugs me:

Soulless!Sam may have let Dean get turned into a vampire, but Dean was solely responsible for the shattering of his relationship with Lisa & Ben just like Sam is solely responsible for how he chooses to use his powers.

I do not understand how soulless!Sam is to blame for Dean's choice in going to visit vulnerable people while he was a vampire. Yes, Soulless!Sam let him get turned into a vampire, but he didn't force Dean to go and see Lisa & Ben in his dangerous state. The shattering of that relationship is all on Dean.

Another thing, i equate soulless!Sam to being very similar to that girl from Children Should Never Play With Dead Things from season 2. The Zombie girl. When she came back to life, she was obviously very different from the girl her family and friends know her to be. She had her memories, her intellect, but obviously not her soul as she was just a reanimated corpse which was what soulless!Sam was essentially. She was able to kill without remorse, she was manipulative, and could tell that her friend was about to betray her. She was heartless and used her friends love for her to make him be on her side until he realized that he resurrected a monster, not the sweet friend he lost. That was also soulless!Sam in a nutshell. I blame Crowley for doing this atrocity to Sam. Sam fell into that hole with the knowledge of it being forever. He didn't ask to be brought back, needless incomplete. I hope Sam and Dean and everybody recognizes this little detail.

Of all the things soulless!Sam did, the destruction of Dean's apple pie family was not one of them. The betraying of his brother and using him as a scapegoat is one and the first thing that instantly made me know that Sam was not the Sam we knew and loved.

Why fandom is trying so hard to pin the Lisa & Ben thing solely on soulless!Sam's shoulder is beyond me. This is not me being a Sam!girl or whatever. It isn't an issue of preferring one brother over the other. It is an issue of placing the blame where it should life. Just because someone puts a gun in your hand doesn't mean you don't have a choice as either shooting someone or putting it down.

I don't want to watch a whole half season of Sam blaming himself for things that were not his fault. I would love for him to help Dean fix the mess, but not because he thinks its all his fault and everybody around him lets him think so.

Other than that, i love your review. It is always a refreshing perspective.

[bardicvoice]

I disagree with some aspects of your analysis, but I'm also not trying to pin responsibility for the collapse of Dean's relationship with Lisa solely on Sam. Sam, however, IS taking it solely on himself, and frankly, I do think soulless-Sam was principally responsible, because Dean's horribly skewed midnight visit would never have happened if Sam hadn't first deliberately let him be turned into a vampire and then neglected to let him know there was a cure. I'm planning to address this in much more detail in a new and very long Supernatural University session, which I hope you will attend, because I can't explain it all briefly enough to fit in a comment field.

That said, however, I also DON'T think soulless-Sam was solely liable, and I definitely don't put the burden of rectifying things on re-souled-Sam. That will be in the the SU entry, too. And I don't think Dean puts that burden on him, either. Neither Dean nor I blame Sam for having come back in pieces. I know that about me, and I infer that about Dean from his insistence that soulless-Sam wasn't Sam.

Thanks for coming by and commenting, and please stay tuned for my detailed analysis in the upcoming SU entry!

[erivar]

How much is Sam to blame for Dean's broken relationship? As I see it, there's not an easy answer. But while I see both yours and erivan's points I'm inclined to agree with her. I'm not trying to diminish RoboSam's ugly deeds. That he put Dean in that situation is beyond discussion. However, even so Dean still had his judgement intact and he should have known that going to Lisa in such a condition was ill-advised.

Anyways, I don't want to advance the Unforgiven discussion (which I'm looking forward to)but it seems Sam is between a rock and a hard place. If he tries to make amends he'll collapse under Hell memories; if he doesn't try, he'll be forever be haunted by what his soulless version did. Can't the boy have a break? It's a weird reward for the sacrifice he made.

Thank you for another insightful review.

Andrea