Dean was cut to pieces for thirty years, and he looked happier day one hugging Sam.

Yeah but Sam is not Dean. He does not have to break the same way. Mind you I actually agree that the plottiness will probably require something more than PTSD. But honestly one day (or one hour) of torture is enough. We don't really know that it took ten years for Dean to break. Just ten years for him to break enough to begin the process of turning Demon. Numbness can happen a lot sooner.

We don't really know that it took ten years for Dean to break. Just ten years for him to break enough to begin the process of turning Demon

Thirty years, FWIW.

How are you defining break?

I'd be very surprised if Show decided Dean had thirty years of torture and ten years of torturing and could still look relieved and almost happy and Sammy had hours or days and couldn't manage the same. I doubt they'll ever draw such a huge distinction between their emotional capabilities.

Which is why I'd imagine that either JP fucked up the moment, or something other than what happened to Dean happened to Sam, or something went down since he came back that makes him this way.

Again, does not mean Sam is more broken. Broken in a different way.

Which is why I'd imagine that either JP fucked up the moment, or something other than what happened to Dean happened to Sam, or something went down since he came back that makes him this way.

I think it's a little of all that. I think JP is simply not great at nuanced expression (assuming he had any direction on the nuance), I suspect something different happened to him in Hell, I think Sam is naturally less guilt-ridden and wouldn't want to wallow in his misery (like Dean), and I think something is going down (since he came back).

I enjoyed the first episode, though I thought it was a little too much set-up and a little slow as a consequence, but it did nothing to dampen my enthusiasm for the show.

Show told us John could handle what Dean couldn't, and I think that was narratively okay, since John wasn't supposed to be Dean's peer, and he's not part of the weekly story. But I do think that differences between the brothers are more likely to be differences of smaller degrees than that. That's more than just different.

Lucifer was inside him--that could account for all sort of new and unusual tortures. That would work for me. I'm not even a crazy Samgirl (not implying that all Samgirls are crazy, just saying I'm not one of the subset that is crazy) but I'd be outraged at the idea that they'd make that distinction between them.

honey oatmeal bread with peach preserves: It's quite possible that JP didn't quite know what Sam is supposed to be feeling (do they normally feed them stuff far in advance?) and that contributed to the murkiness of what we got from the moment.

Also, I've rewatched elements of it numerous times now. That's always a good sign I'm invested. I have never studied Sam so closely, desparate to see something in his face that gives us a clue to his immediate past.

Can it be Friday now ?

do they normally feed them stuff far in advance, and that contributed to the murkiness of what we got from the moment.

I suspect they don't.

I also suspect Jensen gives "good" face and his reactions may shape the future storylines. With these writers I would not be at all surprised if they don't yet have those answers written down.

With these writers I would not be at all surprised if they don't yet have those answers written down.

Why do you think this? I thought they always talked about how they mapped seasons and storylines. The only time they got messed up was during the writer's strike on season three. Then when they found out they were going past season five, there had to be changes to the finale. Sera said Kripke told her how it was going to end when he brought her into the show, and the finale wasn't all that different. Why do you think that they are less prepared now?