sam winchester and dogs - analysis
nobody really seems to talk about this. the other day, i saw that clip of sam and dean going through the memory of the time sam ran away for the first time in a while, and it made me think. we only see sam with dogs a handful of times in the series, at least owning them, and thereās a reason for thatā dogs are a symbol of imperfect happiness for sam winchester.
ā ļøthere will be MAJOR spoilers in this postā ļø
example 1 - bones
we see bones in the episode when dean and sam are going through some of their best memories. one of samās is the time he ran away for two weeks and hid somewhere with a dog he foundābonesāand lived off āfunions and mr pibbā. people often criticize him for this in favor of dean, because dean tells him that john beat him for losing sam. however, people donāt really seem to mention the backstory for this (probably? not all the details line up, but this is seemingly the first time sam ran away) that we got for this later in the episode with sully.
in the episode, we get flashbacks of one part of samās childhood: dean and john were on another hunt and wouldnāt let him come with. he had asked sully, āever thinkā¦ about running away?ā which sparked a conversation about samās future which ended in sam deciding to actually run away and ended with a cut back to present day.
sam had decided to run away because he was tired of feeling unvalued and hated the way he was currently living. he didnāt really hate his familyā he was just a kid sick of being alone with no promise of change soon. when he ran away, though, he was still alone. he was just alone without promise of dean and john being home in a few days. he thought it would fix his problems, but it didnāt. he didnāt have the greatest relationship with john, but he did love dean. he didnāt really show it as a kid but dean was the only one who showed him real love, and he needed that. he didnāt have that anymore.
this is the first instance sam is shown owning a dog, and it comes after sam ran away for something he thought would fix his life but ended up not really measuring up in the end. he was ripped back from his little adventure right back into his old life. he couldnāt escape. he was free,
but he didnāt have dean.
example 2 - riot
one of the WORST plot lines on this show. iāll say that. weird choice for sam. regardless, it stands with the analysis.
we all know how sam hit the dog and went to live with amelia instead of looking for dean. it came from the idea that dean used that one time they had evidently agreed on where if one of them died, the other would live a normal life. personally i donāt think sam would have actually done this at this point in the show, but whatever. dean had lisa and ben, and this was samās version. samās chance at normalcy. we see bits of his life with amelia develop over multiple episodes, and he was even living with her. amelia made him happy. and they really showed that dog a lot.
the dog lived with them, obviously. the second instance of sam owning a dog. sam was trying to start this new life for himself of being a guy who settles down with someone and lives his life in peace. of course, that didnāt really end up working for him, as he left amelia to go back to hunting.
yet again, we have a dog present during a time sam was trying to escape his problems and start over. sam was starting to get this life for himself that he never really thought he would have, but that he always had as an unattainable dream. he was free,
but he didnāt have dean.
example 3 - miracle
the final instance shown of sam owning a dog. dean had found this one, which, as weāve seen from the takeaway of the two previous examples, was actually foreshadowing of deanās death in the final episode.
unfortunately, we all remember how 15x20 starts with sam and dean in a semi-normal life. theyāve beat chuck. theyāve saved the world multiple times, and lost so many people in the process. they finally get some normalcy, while still keeping up the little hunting jobs. and then dean somehow dies on that damn rusty rebar.
immediately proceeding is what i can remember through heavy tears as an extremely sad montage of sam living his life without dean, permanently, with parallels to earlier scenes in the episode. then we get that shot of sam and miracle watching deanās body burn.
dean had unknowingly found sam a companion before he died. this was what sam had left of his big brother. a dog. he took that dog with him when he left the bunker, and took care of him until the day he died. they had both loved that dog. sam had gotten a taste of a free lifeā a free life with his brother, unshackled by world-threatening evils. that was then forcibly taken away from him in an instant. he was once again alone. alone with miracle. he was free,
but he didnāt have dean.
