I honestly try and avoid getting my brother who is two years younger in a conversation about sibling rivalry. He comes up with these outrageous stories about lawn darts and firecrackers being thrown at him. I can usually counter with the hole in a door that kindly took the blow from a baseball bat instead of me. He completely denies that part.

Yeah, siblings are not a safe group.

Am I the only one who really really does not want a season six? It is not that I fear that season six would be bad. (If it was we would still have 1-5, and could pretend it never happened.) But what scares me is the possibility beign slowed down and stretch with filler to cover two seasons, and being ruined. If they have season six, I still want them to finish season five, the apocalpyse happens or not, the world is saved or destroyed, or the battle turns out to be really long run so we have thousands of year yet, or whatever. And the season six does something else good or bad that is fine. But I want the main points of season five resolved in season five. In the (apparently extremely unlikely event) of a season six do freakin something else. Invent a new twist, take a chance, it works or not. But don't ruin freakin season five! Probably an unnecesary rant cause from the clarification a season six does not seem in the work. But I just don't want the slim chance of an extra season wrecking what we have.

I just can't buy Dean *abusing* Sam.

Just to clarify, in my original post I brought it up as a "what if" scenario. I'm not saying that I think Dean has been beating on Sam all his life. I DO think that I personally would be a bit happier if he would talk and listen once in a while before resorting to physically expressing his anger, frustration, depression, worry, whatever.

And my other point remains: other than after the point where Sam leaves Bobby's demon/panic room and starts swinging when Dean confronts him, I'm drawing a blank trying to remember any time that Sam fights back. Dean pushes Sam, Sam probably pushes back, although I'm not remembering him doing so. Dean punches Sam, Sam just absorbs it and doesn't hit back. This implies an inequality to me; it's not two equally matched men (which they would be) fighting one another, it's one hurting the other one without any retaliation.

I know it's not as dramatically interesting, but I do prefer them as a united force against all the evil sons of bitches and deemonic forces out there.

Typo Boy, I'm with you. I'm annoyed that the people taking the online poll are pro-season six, which is dumb.

No, you're quite right, of course.

I guess I tend to see it within the context of how they portray Dean as the more physical and Sam as the more cerebral; Dean's forever eating things (and I can't think when we've ever seen Sam eat anything, although we must have, right?), and hitting on chicks, and being aggressive - he's portrayed as very much the short-fuse, macho, lizard-brain, carnal kind of guy, whereas Sam is portrayed as much more educated, reflective, reticent and new-man kind of guy. At least initially. We hardly ever see Sam eating, or hitting on girls, or being aggressive.

But of course the flip side of that is that deeper down they're neither of them like that.

Am I the only one who really really does not want a season six?

Nope. You're not. I would prefer they stick with the original arc as designed by Kripke. Unfortunately, if the network wants another season after five, the boys are contracted through season six and could go ahead without Kripke. Perhaps he can be talked into a sixth season, but from what I've read, he is done after five.

I think a season 6 would be a very bad idea.

I love the thought of them going into season 5 knowing it's the end, so the narrative arc is designed around that. I really don't think 6 will happen, but I hope we know for sure soon.

I'm drawing a blank trying to remember any time that Sam fights back. Dean pushes Sam, Sam probably pushes back, although I'm not remembering him doing so. Dean punches Sam, Sam just absorbs it and doesn't hit back. This implies an inequality to me; it's not two equally matched men (which they would be) fighting one another, it's one hurting the other one without any retaliation.

But in each case, we see Sam deciding not to fight back. There was never any doubt in my mind that if Sam so chose, he could easily take Dean. That in fact, it would be Dean pulling punches because he wouldn't ever really damage Sam. Whereas if Sam was provoked past his point of refusal to fight physically--which I've always considered a combination of feeling himself superior to Dean by fighting with his brain instead of his fists, emotional blackmail because he's aware Dean still feels protective of his "kid" brother (thus would have guilt about getting physical once the argument was past), and feeling some residual reluctance to hurt a quasi-parental figure and Sam's chiefest champion since childhood--he could and likely would take Dean apart. So it's been a decision on Sam's part not to fight back.

Plus, as Fay said earlier, Dean is a physical person, he experiences the world through his senses. Sam is cerebral, he experiences the world through his thought processes. It's normal and natural for Sam to fight with his intellect, as normal and natural as it is for Dean to fight with his body. I have no doubt Sam's as well-trained and efficient taking down an opponent physically, but when it's family--when it's Dean, he's going to use his best attack--and that's mental and emotional.

Frankly, I think they're evenly matched, if in different skills.

And I shudder at the prospect of a sixth season without both Kripke and Manners. Singer can't keep Sera and Ben and the other writers on an even keel by himself.

Ahaha. I'm picturing now the notion of a S6 run by Gamble and Edlund, and it would basically be cheestastic gay porn with a side of misanthropy and dead weird guys.

The fact that they were both attending the same high school is interesting. They are more than four years apart in age, and one would assume Sam would be in the 8th grade (middle school) if Dean was in the 12th grade (a senior). But because they are both attending high school, this leads me to believe Sam might have skipped a grade and was high school freshman at age 13. He certainly had the smarts, so it's in the realm of possibility. Then in May, Sam would turn 14, while Dean would have turned 18 the January prior

With the timing of Mary's death relative to the normal beginning of Dean's scholastic career, it seems more likely to me that he didn't start school until he was 6 than Sam starting high school at 13, given how much they moved around and John's probably lack of interest in advancing Sam's academic path.