Why would he care who leers at Dean though?

I really wonder if something got cut that gave even a vague handwave as to why Sam killed that demon. Especially a demon who, when I was only half watching, looked like Sampa.

I did notice someone say that the demon Sam stabbed was the one that looked twice at Dean, the one Dean asked if he wanted to kiss him.

Was this someone a Sam/Dean shipper who was therefore wearing the tinfoil hat? You know, "he looked funny at my man and therefore must die?"

Sam has been focussed on two things without his soul, that the theoretically need not have been--hunting and Dean. They have no simple payoff like sex.

I'm not even remotely a Sam/Dean shipper, but if soulless Sam came through all this understanding two things (okay, not understanding two things, just knowing them--Dean and hunt monsters), killing that demon may have been the precise right choice to flex his muscles at the time.

He is a bit dismissive of Lisa, although that's easily read as disdain for emotional ties.

I think he was dismissive of the emotional connection to Lisa. That was something that cold inhibit Dean's hunting. Just some sex wouldn't factor. Hell, Sam's been getting it all over. But, you know, after he looks for Dean in a field, so... It doesn't mess with business.

killing that demon may have been the precise right choice to flex his muscles at the time.

That was actually what I was thinking. Killing the demon eliminated a possibly unreliable member of the crew ("he wanted to kill us more than he wanted to work the job") and it allowed Sam to show very graphically "don't fuck with us." Win/win, as far as he was concerned.

...killing that demon may have been the precise right choice to flex his muscles at the time.

See, and I totally read that as an indication of Sam's well-honed hunter instinct. He read the body language of that demon and concluded he was a mole for Crowley, paying too much attention to the participants in the mission than the mission itself.

There's also the fact that doing so DID get the demon-killing knife back in Winchester hands. That's a huge thing when going into a dangerous situation with demons at your destination and tagging along with you.

There's also the fact that doing so DID get the demon-killing knife back in Winchester hands. That's a huge thing when going into a dangerous situation with demons at your destination and tagging along with you.

I totally saw it as a way for the writers to get the knife back in Winchester hands. What felt "huh?" to me was the "he wanted to kill us more than he wanted to work the job" line. Because, no, that guy was just standing there. Being evil. Like a demon.

I mean, I can handwave it amongst other things or say it's that soulless Sam easily tells lies (which I am cool with cause he's got no soul) but why does Meg buy it?

I believed Sam when he said it. I thought at the time that the demon was showing too much interest in Sam and Dean, posturing against Dean, so what Sam said made sense to me. The demon was a loose cannon that couldn't be trusted to stay on target.

I don't think it has to be more complicated.

Hey, we won the TV Guide cover!