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#SPN10 Countdown Challenge | 18 Days Left | S05E18 – Point of No Return

↳ “I mean, hell, if you’re grown-up enough to find faith in me… the least I can do is return the favor.”

Basically this is Dean saying “You’re being better than I was to you. Why are you being better than I was to you?” and Sam saying “Because I actually know how to treat my brother.”

Part of the reason this scene is so effective (and brings about such a huge change in the way Dean chooses to face the Apocalypse) is because it is a flawless inversion of the events of the last season. 

When Dean was in Sam’s place and feared Sam would go dark and do terrible things that would have profound effects on the world, he didn’t say “You’re still my brother.” Instead, he wondered, “I’m not even sure if he’s still my brother anymore. If he ever was” (4.22). Their separation in s4 opened both of them up to manipulation.

When Sam was in the position of power, he came over and unlocked the cuff around Dean’s wrist and freed him at a time when both Bobby and Sam feared that Dean would go to Michael and consent to possession. Bobby was adamant on keeping Dean locked up, but Sam still let him go. 

Similarly (and in contrast), in “When the Levee Breaks,” at a time when Dean and Bobby feared Sam would cause harm to himself and eventually cross a line he couldn’t come back from, they cuffed Sam and locked him in a room to undergo a detox that would likely have killed him. Bobby feared that Sam would die and told Dean it might be best to let him go. Dean was adamant on keeping Sam down there, even if it cost Sam his life. Dean recognizes and acknowledges this, acknowledges that the tables were turned and Dean did–in his own words–leave Sam to “rot” down there.

Dean, hurt and angry, told Sam he wasn’t strong. “This is about as far away from strong as you can get. Try weak. Try desperate. Pathetic” (4.21). He said to Sam in the very same episode this gifset comes from, “

I just…I—I don’t believe. In you. I mean, I don’t. I don’t know whether it’s gonna be demon blood or some other demon chick or what, but…I do know they’re gonna find a way to turn you. […]  Lucifer’s gonna wear you to the prom, man. It’s just a matter of time.” 

Sam, however, told Dean he knew Dean would make the right call, and Sam’s faith in Dean sort of made it a self-fulfilling prophecy.

That trust led to significant growth at a time when the brothers were at their lowest. Sam had faith that Dean would make the right choice, and over the course of the episode, Dean went from grim determination to consent to possession to desperate hope for the future, telling Sam, “I mean, hell, if you’re grown-up enough to find faith in me…the least I can do is return the favor. So screw destiny, right in the face. I say we take the fight to them, and do it our way.”

This episode was yet another example of the show driving home the age-old themes of trust and faith, and (most heart-breaking to me) one of many examples of Sam offering understanding and faith to others when he has rarely, if ever, received them when he was in similar situations.