I was there for John's quote for a long time. But in the end, *my* show is about the broken brothers, not the whole broken family.

Apparently.

Today.

Okay, at the moment I voted.

STOP VOTING AGAINST PAPA JOHN!!!

I LOVE HIS PIZZA!

P-C, Is that a vote you just cast?

the fact that it never occurred to him to say it earlier

See, this is part of why it's so affecting to me. Because he's been that clueless the whole time, just operating on automatic, and not processing what his son has been and what his son might emotionally need...and in that moment he gets it. And it is too late, but he's giving him everything he can give in those scant moments he has left.

But he's still John. And he doesn't know Dean well enough to know that the order he won't follow is the order about killing Sammy. Or maybe he does...maybe he has to say it anyway. But I think he came slap bang up against his limitations right there, and I think in that moment he transcended them, just a little.

P-C, Is that a vote you just cast?

No, it is simply a vote for pizza.

I have to say, the one thing this match up is making me want more than anything is to watch the beginning of S2 again.

I watched Sympathy for the Devil and Good God Y'All after they just reaired and ... I think I miss the first two seasons a lot.

But I think he came slap bang up against his limitations right there, and I think in that moment he transcended them, just a little.

I agree. And I love him for doing what he did, even if I want to smack him a little for not doing it sooner. I love John, and all of his conflicts, and his love for his dead wife and dead dreams, and how that turned into vengeance, and how he tried his best to raise his boys, despite the crazy life he pushed them into.

It was a tough choice! But like Cass said, for me, it's the boys. And that scene with Dean -- there's nothing I don't love. JA's delivery, the writing, Dean's absolute grief and desperation, and how much he admits about what he wanted for Sammy, about how he *parented* this boy on the bed before him. That's the kind of moment that breaks people, and we see it as it breaks Dean, bleeding right into the Impala screeching away to the crossroads.

You all have such well-reasoned arguments for your votes, that's just making it harder for me to choose! But I think I have to go with:

• What am I supposed to do?

As much as I love the John quote, and I thought it was high time he said that to Dean, this show is ultimately about the brothers. And Dean's soliloquey was so pitch perfect and just made me weep like a baby that I really can't go with anything else. It's the whole point of the show wrapped up in a single manly tear.

Season 2, Round 5, Bracket #1/1:

Dean's gut-wrenching grief for his dead baby brother. Hands-down, not even nano-second's hesitation.

What am I supposed to do?

Because as much as I love John, as much as he needed to tell Dean how proud he was of him, how much he was giving up to save his son's life, in the end he was really passing the responsibility, the duty, and the burden of saving Sam or killing him on to Dean. Because John couldn't do it himself. As often as he was at loggerheads with Sam, even though he knew at least part of what was in store for him if it wasn't somehow averted, when it came down to it he knew he couldn't kill his baby boy if he had to, and he punked out and left that pile of crap for Dean to do. So that "proud of you" has a pretty thick layer of tarnish around the edges for me.