Hi, all! Been busy this summer, but it's good to read all the thoughtful threads and comments. I thought I'd weigh in too. :-)

Going back to the earlier thread, I wonder how much of Sam's experience in hell with Lucifer is playing into his decision to not search for Dean. Sure, Castiel "shifted" Sam's trauma from hell, but Sam still has vestiges of it as was explained in Party On, Garth.

Without knowing if Dean was alive or dead, I can't help but think Sam was overwhelmed at the thought of looking for him. If Dean was dead and in heaven, why would Sam want to bring him back? His brother would be a peace. Sam could only hope that was Dean's fate. If Dean was in hell, Sam had spent eons there and maybe he'd be too raw to even consider the idea of going back there to rescue Dean. And Purgatory... How could Sam have known it was an option for a non-monster?

I also got the impression that Sam's leaving in the middle of the night might not be the first time he's done that in that relationship. I'm guessing Sam made frequent trips to Montana just to stay connected to the last known refuge he and his brother shared.

I think we'll learn a lot in the coming weeks, and I, for one, am amped and ready for it. I loved the premier. Lots of raw meat. Can't wait for Wednesday!

If Dean was dead and in heaven, why would Sam want to bring him back?

Because they've been to heaven, and Dean didn't like it?

However, without any research (which it currently seems he didn't do) how was he to have any idea where Dean was? It's odd for a Winchester to not even try find out, though. It's not like every psychic up and died, or anything, did they?

Unfortunate that they didn't do so, since given that both angels and demons seemed entirely ignorant of the location and current state of Purgatory, I doubt human psychics would have been able to find anything out about Dean aside from "nope, can't feel him at all." An answer like that might have at least justified Sam blowing off any impulse to search further.

I doubt human psychics would have been able to find anything out about Dean aside from "nope, can't feel him at all."

I don't think it would require any huge bending of their reality to take something personal of Dean's or Sam's (up to and including blood) and dowsing across dimensions for him.

I don't know, the only psychic connection we've seen that for sure bridged that gap was between Mother of All and her progeny.

How many times have we seen them fail? Who has said "My brother is in purgatory, but I couldn't find a single psychic that could locate him, dammit!"

Of all the things they've extracted from their rectums...this one would need by far the least lube.

This is too soon off of Sam in his own split-personality hell saying that he wouldn't leave Dean "because he's my brother" for me to easily write off Sam saying "eh, I'm done. I've learned from our collective resurrection mistakes and decided to forgo the whole mess and just move on without him, he's probably in a better place for all I know".

I have a horrible feeling that this misstep will haunt us forever.

Until I see evidence that Sam did some due diligence, I will maintain that the writers don't know who the frell they are writing anymore.

I will maintain that the writers don't know who the frell they are writing anymore.

I would never say that, since they're by definition writing Sam and Dean. They're just not writing ones that we can trace the path from here to there on, and maybe not ones we like. But "who" is what flows from their pens.

However, ficwriters, sometimes they don't know. Dean who falls for Cas because he makes amazing pumpkin spice lattes? Yeah--if the writers suddenly make Dean like frouffy drinks and calling himself Francis, then that's the shift Dean makes. But if you're not the writers, you're OOC.

(Just an aside... why have people been praying to angels on Supernatural? I don't remember ever being taught to pray to angels.

Well, Dean calls Cas and past experience tells him that Cas responds.