Picmetaspam: Sam, Sex and The Soul

[ash48]

Recap and Meta: ash48
Graphics: geckoholic
Beta: bythedamned

Special thanks and notes are here.

So. Season six soulless!Sam was pretty sexy yeah? He unashamedly showed off his bod, he hired a hooker and had sex with a woman he picked up in a bar rather than search for his missing brother.

We all cried, “but Sam wouldn’t do that!” -

And Sam wouldn’t. Not the Sam we grew to know over the previous five seasons.



I've been wondering why Show found it important to include so much sex in Sam’s soulless story arc. Why did soulless!Sam have a lot more sex than soulled!Sam? (and no, I won’t accept it’s because Sera was at the helm…*g*).

How did showing Sam being more sexual help us to understand the character of Sam Winchester more?

In order to examine this I think it’s worthwhile to take a look at what we have seen of Sam, women and sex over the first five seasons. And hey… sounds like a good excuse to look at pretty pics of sexy Sam if you ask me. ;)

Season One

We first see a smiley, happy Sam with his girlfriend Jessica in the opening moments of the pilot in season one. He seems very much in love and comfortable in his closeness with her:



Sam: "What would I do without you?"
Jessica: "Crash and burn" (Extraordinarily prophetic looking back...)

They share an apartment and their bed. They obviously have a sexual history together (they sleep together so I think we can comfortably make that assumption).

Then Jessica dies and Sam is left grieving.

It's not until episode 7 (Hookman) that we next see Sam take an interest in another girl.



We see a shy, caring Sam who clearly has Jess still on his mind. He mentions his loss to Lori. He tries to share a kiss but his heart isn’t in it. He just can’t take that step yet. I also imagine he’s sensitive to Lori's well being and doesn’t want to hurt her knowing he can’t commit to any sort of relationship.

At the end of the episode Dean suggests that they can hang around if Sam wants to hook up - but Sam declines. For me this is the first indication we get that Sam probably isn’t into easy hook ups or one night stands. He could have said yes, Lori had clearly shown an interest.

Episode 11 (Scarecrow) introduces Meg. We are unaware of who she actually is in this episode but we do see the potential for Sam to get “involved”. They start to travel together and might have continued to do so if Sam hadn’t returned to Dean.

Meg makes another appearance in episode 16 (Shadow). Dean teases Sam about having an “interest” in her but Sam is clearly more puzzled about her reappearance than chasing any sort of hook up. In fact the sexual contact Sam does have with Meg is non consensual.



Sam could have easily hooked up with Meg at some stage if he was just after sex. She was clearly chasing him but by Sam shunning her advances it is reinforced that Sam isn’t interested in sex just for the sake of it.

It’s not until episode 19 (Provenance) that we get to see a little more of how Sam is around women. Sarah is introduced to the boys and much to Dean's (and Sam’s) surprise takes an interest in Sam.



Sam is incredibly shy and it's only with Dean's not so gentle persuading that he asks Sarah on a date. He's initially awkward around her but it's clear that he is somewhat smitten.

I love Dean’s attempt to, once again, nudge Sam into a hook up. It’s a caring and thoughtful move on Dean’s part. Hoping it will help Sam not only begin to get past Jessica but to start to feel more confident about himself.

It’s hard to tell if this is something Dean has done in the past with Sam. We don’t have a lot of evidence about what Dean was like when it came to Sam and girls when they were growing up. In What is and What Should Never Be dream!Sam complains that Dean stole his prom date and Dean replies that it sounds like something he would do. I’ve always taken this at face value; that Dean probably won the hearts of girls more easily than Sam and it wouldn’t have taken much for Sam’s dates to notice Dean – and maybe even show more interest in him than Sam.

Sam is so used to women taking notice of Dean before him that it truly does come as a surprise when Sarah gives Sam the eye instead of Dean.

Dean’s “model” good looks and smooth approach to women has somewhat shaped Sam’s opinion of himself. He would consider himself somewhat less desirable than Dean and would have no idea of his own sex appeal - (and that in itself is damn sexy!) I suspect he would never have made a move on a girl when Dean was around because he would have seen it has a lost cause. Sam may have often felt that some girls would be “out of his league”. Dean even says as much when he first meets Jessica.

I'm not sure that Sam has low self esteem in this area, I just think he lacks confidence because he has grown up around a very good looking, smooth talking, chick magnet of a brother. Sam just doesn’t see himself like that. It’s therefore particularly important that Dean is seen to be pushing Sam on to Sarah. He’s trying to give Sam the confidence he lacks. Maybe even trying to make up for years of being the one that the girls always fall for. This time it’s Sam turn.

It might also have been because of Dean’s “gentle persuasion” that Sam had the confidence to go back and give Sarah this kiss she was obviously hoping for.

We see a heartfelt kiss and it’s the first indication that Sam is probably quite a passionate lover. I’ve always found it interesting that Sam comes across as very shy around women, but once he’s actually with them he pretty full on and intense.



I love Dean’s "That's my boy." His matchmaking has paid off and I think he sees this as a genuine step forward for Sam. He’s proud of his little bro.

Season one allowed us to see Sam overcome his all-consuming grief and begin to take an interest in women once again. They were baby steps though, and it’s not until late in to season two that we get to see Sam actually have sex.

Season Two

In episode 17 (Heart), we see that shy, awkward man we witnessed in season one:



This time Sam seems much more interested in "going further" and he more actively pursues Maddison. Dean assumes that he’ll be the one to stay with the “hot chick”, but Sam calls him on it. He wants a shot. It might even be the first time Sam has “fought” over a girl with Dean. We don’t know of course, but it’s the first time we’ve witnessed such a thing.

Sam’s in, but I think it’s important that we see Sam developing a rapport with Maddison first. He needs to know that she is as interested as he is and they take time to have a laugh and even a serious discussion.

The interest is mutual and then, for the first time, we get to see Sam have sex. And it’s pretty interesting. He may be shy in his approach but he seems to be quite the heated lover in bed. Biting, forceful and passionate.



It's possible that this is Sam's first full on sexual encounter since Jessica, which may explain his hungry passion. Though, we can only assume this as no reference is made to him having slept with anyone else. In fact, by the end of season two, Sam has only had this one sexual encounter. I think that in itself is quite telling. He’s not a man who overtly flirts or takes his relationships lightly.

It makes the fact that he has to kill the first woman he’s slept with since Jessica even more heartbreaking. The trauma of this was obviously very deep because it’s another season and half before that we see Sam have sex again.

Season Three

We don’t see Sam take an interest in anyone during the whole of Season three. We do, however, get a glimpse into his dreams. *g*



I love that Sam dreams of himself as a stud, with Bela falling all over him. I think this is actually quite telling. We know now (after nearly 3 seasons) that Sam lacks confidence with women, he’s shy and probably doesn’t realize how damn hot he is - dreams can show us what we wish we were like. I think this is what Sam’s dream was meant to show us. He “dreams” he’s a chick magnet because he doesn’t believe he is (which bamboozles me completely because… HELLO! *g*)

Season Four

This next sexual encounter is extraordinarily important in understanding Sam's desperation and self loathing at this point in his story. He’s lost his brother, he’s hasn’t been able to rescue him from hell and is at his absolute lowest point.

After initially resisting Ruby’s advances he gives in. The sex is urgent, needy and somewhat vicious.



We witness Sam “breaking” in order to have sex with Ruby. After this first encounter we have to assume he continued to have sex with her. When Season 4 opens the first time we see Ruby is when she opens the door, partially clothed. Her underwear is in the room and the inference is that they have shared a bed.

It would have been really interesting to have had some more information of what Sam’s sex with Ruby was like after his first time. It was filling a need but I suspect his self loathing would have been pretty strong throughout. But I can only speculate.

We also have to assume they had sex in When the Levee Breaks (4.21), after he drank her blood. (oh… Sammy….:( )

Sam has another sexual encounter in S4 and this one is probably my favourite of all his sex scenes (4.14 Sex and Violence). He's more relaxed and confident than we have seen him with women up until now. He strikes up a rapport with Dr. Roberts fairly quickly. We again witness how passionate he is during sex... still somewhat needy but clearly enjoying the fun side of it. He seems comfortable in his own body for the first time.

It's a wonderful contrast to the sex we see him have with Ruby in episode 4.09.

At this point in Sam’s journey we can see that he has grown up. He no longer walks in his brother’s shadow (which is part of his story arc in season five) and recognizes when a woman takes notice of him. He still has the gorgeous Sammy shyness but he is much more confident than the boy we saw in season one.



By the end of season 4 we have seen Sam desperate and using sex as a outlet for his despair, but we have also seen him come into his own, beginning to show more confidence even if it is still tinged with shyness.

Season Five

Season Five is disappointingly devoid of any sexual encounters for Sam. The only time we see him even remotely interested in someone is with Lindsay, a waitress, in Free to Be You and Me. In the actual episode we see no more than her taking an interest is Sam but apparently there was a “deleted” sex scene after Sam rescues Lindsay from the hunters. (source) I can only speculate why this was deleted – my feeling was that it didn’t really add to the story. It has been suggested that it was why Sam wasn’t so shocked that “someone” was in bed with him at the end of the episode.

It would have been an interesting comment on Sam’s mental state if they had included this scene though. We may have been able to draw a link between Sam having sex without Dean being around as the “competition”. Or that he needed the extra emotional connection because Dean wasn’t around. Or perhaps because he was feeling confused and negative about himself, he needed a physical connection as a form of comfort.

We can’t draw conclusions because it didn’t happen. Fun to speculate though. ☺

Season Six

This is where it starts to get really interesting and my main reason for recapping Sam’s sexual encounters up to now.

We know something is wrong with Sam pretty much as soon as he appears in episode one of season six. We’re not sure what’s wrong but he isn’t acting like himself. Aside from his lack of emotion, we see him in more sexual situations than at any other time during the entire show (3 in 5 whole seasons verses 3 in a mere 10 episodes, with mentions of more in his soulless year…)



He hires a hooker in episode 6.03 (The Third Man) , he picks up a waitress and is caught in bed with her when Dean returns from having disappeared in episode 6.09 (Clap Your Hands if You Believe) and during the flash backs in 6.13 (Unforgiven) we find out that he was quite the ladies man. We see him having sex with a woman in a bathroom and there are mentions of three other sexual encounters Sam had during his soulless time. (These women are dying – it seems Sam and his killer peen strike again!)

So what gives?

By showing Sam in these “uncharacteristic” sexual situations it gave us red flags that something just wasn’t right. For five seasons the show has given us a Sam who needs to strike a rapport with women he sleeps with. We saw that he is not one to pick up one-night stands and he doesn’t seem particularly driven or interested in seeking out sexual partners for the sake of it. He needs an emotional connection, not just a physical one.

The fact that we know all this about Sam is a great way to instantly alert us that something is wrong.

For me, the more interesting question is: what is it about Sam not having a soul that changed his sexual habits? What is it that allowed him to pick up one night stands and generally become the “stud” he dreamed about in “Dream a Little Dream of Me"?

There may be a few answers to this. Show never really gave us a definition of what the soul is. Though it seemed to indicate that it was a “moral compass” - something that allows us to have empathy and to feel emotion. By Sam lacking those qualities we got a good idea of what the soul is in the Supernatural universe.

He wasn’t encumbered by thoughts of relationships and how the other person may feel if it didn’t go any further. I’m not suggesting that his partners were ever unwilling participants – in fact, we saw very willing participants. It’s just that this Sam isn’t interested in building a rapport or making the emotional connections as soulful!Sam did. He could fulfill his desires without those pesky morals, emotions and even inhibitions getting in the way.

Soulless!Sam was confident and knew that women admired him. We can see in Clap Your Hands that it took a mere look to signal that he was interested in the bar maid. Something we never saw soulful!Sam do. He had no compunctions about hiring a hooker. He wanted sex and bought it. Again, something soulful!Sam would never even contemplate doing.

As with many of soulless!Sam’s actions, they are partially him. He didn’t “suddenly” become incredible in the sack (see prostitute’s reaction in Clap Your Hands...). He’s always been presented as being damn fine in that area (Heart and Sex and Violence are good examples). We can compare this to the way he hunted. He already had incredible hunting skills, it’s just that without a soul he was able to hunt more ruthlessly so without emotion he was able to have more sex regularly.

Supernatural isn’t a TV show that grounds itself in romance. The sexual encounters the boys have are usually there to give us more information about their characters and their emotional journey, not to provide us with a love story. Sex is also used to give us more information about the character’s situation or state of mind. By giving us so much more sex in Sam’s soulless story arc they gave us more information about Sam’s mental and emotional state. It was a clever (and ::koff:: aesthetically pleasing) way to show us just how different this Sam is.

It will be very interesting to see what shape Sam’s next sexual encounter takes. Will he be back to shy, lacking confidence Sam? Will he combine his soulless!Sam confidence with his soulful!Sam need for an emotional connection? (awww) Or will he just run a mile from sex altogether? After all, with his history of women dying that he’s had sex with, it’s likely poor Sammy may choose to be celibate from now on. (damn… I hope not…)




Note: Graphics: Please look, but don't take.

If you made it this far, thank you for taking the time to read. :)

Comments

[ravelqueen.livejournal.com]

That was a really interesting look at it all, thank you so much!

You know, what I asked myself as I was reading it, do you think the way he is in bed (forceful, passionate) is something Jared choose to do or is a deliberate choice by the writers to in this way expand on his character?

And how come Dean gets way way less sex scenes than Sam even though he actually has more? (maybe that's just because Jensen seems to be body-shyer than Jared^^)

Anyway, I really enjoyed reading this, I think you are absolutely right in your assessment and it's wonderful you took so much time to make this for all of us <3

[cherry916.livejournal.com]

Wow! This is very interesting. I garnered so much from this little meta discussion. It's is very interesting and amusing to see Sam's sex habits so different from Dean. But this is awesome! \0/ You and the gals did a really awesome job on this I wouldn't mind seeing more meta discussions from you BB. It's that teaching coming out isn't it? *g* Going to teach me the horrors awesomeness of Sam's killer peen! lol

I think that's what I love about Sam so much. Is everything he does and did it all tells a story about who he was, is and will become in later years. I still think with all the confidence he gained from season 5 onward there is still a shy little boy in there who just wants to be like his big brother which I find incredibly adorable. ^^

EDIT: Oh yeah totally marking this in my delicious and we must mention this for our next newsletter. It's a pretty fascinating look into Sam's character which this involves some emotional issues that counts! no seriously we must let everyone know of this adorable shy boy whose hot as Hades and sometimes doesn't even know it.

[callistosh65.livejournal.com]

By giving us so much more sex in Sam’s soulless story arc they gave us more information about Sam’s mental and emotional state. It was a clever (and ::koff:: aesthetically pleasing) way to show us just how different this Sam is. Exactly! Awesome post, my friend. And great graphics it too. You're absolutely right, one of the biggest pings on the all-is-not-right-with-Sam radar, was the frequency and nature of his sexual encounters in S6. And it was fascinating to really think about the comparisons in S6 with how that idea and theme has been treated in each season.

The combination shy awkward Sammy with souless Sam's confidence would be every gal's dream..*g*

[ash48.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

do you think the way he is in bed (forceful, passionate) is something Jared choose to do or is a deliberate choice by the writers to in this way expand on his character?

This is interesting. I think it was bythedamned that mentioned the same thing to me. Wondering if it's Jared's approached rather than the way Sam is. Jared has mentioned that he gets "pumped up" (works out) before those scenes, so I suspect he is quite conscious of what his body is doing and how he's playing it. I think it's hard to separate though. We can only go by what we've seen and that is a passionate, no holding back, Sam. It's been consistent though. So possibly there was a choice made about this.

And how come Dean gets way way less sex scenes than Sam even though he actually has more?

It's interesting and something that struck me while I was writing this. Dean is the one we think of as having a lot of sex, though we don't see it very often. It could well be because of Jensen's choices. When I meta Dean and sex I'll probably take a closer look at that.

Thank you so much for reading. I never know if people will be interested in this stuff. :)

<33

[ash48.livejournal.com]

Hey! Thanks so much for reading and commenting hun. That means a lot.

Hee! And yes! If I can teach peeps about Sam's killer peen then my job here is done! :D

I think it's quite a journey Sam has been on and even though he has gained all this confidence over time he will still retain his fundamental shyness. I think he'll still be somewhat shy around women in the future - I just wonder if he will be totally scared off. Poor boy... it will be very interesting to see where they take him next.

Thanks so much for dropping in. <333 (and YES! Hot a Hades for sure!)

xx

[ash48.livejournal.com]

Hello hun! Thanks so much for reading. *beams*

I remember when The Third Man aired and we were all wondering what the hell was going on with Sam. It as just unbelievable that he bought sex. I had no idea what was up but I did know this wasn't Sam. Well, not that one that started out in season 1. I think it was quite a clever ploy. ;)

And the graphics are gorgeous yes?! When geckoholic sent them to me I was blown away.

Thanks so much for stopping by. <33

Forgive me,

[ruby-jelly.livejournal.com]

I haven't even read it all yet, but when I saw the cut title: "
I've been wondering why Show found it important to include so much sex in Sam’s soulless story arc," I asked "Do you care?"

lol, Ash, of course you do!!!! I guess it was a terrible hardship going back and thinking about naked, sexy, sweaty, shirtless, morning after Sam. My heart breaks for you hun, what can I do to help?????

[missyjack.livejournal.com]

I can maybe partly answer your question. here's a transcript of the sex scene from heart (http://www.supernaturalwiki.com/index.php?title=Sex_scene_from_Heart) as it appeared in the actual script (which was donated as a raffle prize by Sera to Wincon in 2007) . Certainly what we saw on screen comes from Sera's script.

However it always interested me that the biting By Jared that's in the scene isn't. So that's wither a choice by Jared - or (my guess) director Kim Manners

Re: Forgive me,

[ash48.livejournal.com]

I knew you'd understand the suffering I went through to bring you this. The hours of looking through footage of Sam having sex.... *sigh* but someone had to do it.

Hee! Do I care?! Of course I do! You know me!

What can you do to help? Well, you used that glorious icon. *guh* so ... thanks.

<333

[missyjack.livejournal.com]

*applause* this is just wonderful and so much to think about, i predict I may be popping back to comment more after I've slept on it.

I certainly agree that his first fuck with Ruby came from a place of self-loathing. I've always loved Sera's take on this : She says they were looking for "... the lowest place Sam can go in a state of despair? That's why calling it a love scene strikes me as hilarious. It's kind of like self-mutilating and calling it getting dressed for the prom."

I agree that it would've been interesting to see more of their intimate dynamic during the season. i suspect that we didn't repulsively because the writers didn't want the audience to disengage too much from Sam (as Chuck explains in The Monster At the end of the Book).

I've always thought his relationship with Ruby broke for Sam that nexus between sex and love/romance. So i don't think we'll ever see a return to S1 or S2 Sam.

I agree with you about souless Sam and sex. I think it was also an important counter to just showing him as a ruthless hunter. It certainly makes soulless Sam a lot more appealing as a person to the viewer and I think that was probably a calculated move - along with soulless Sam's snarky humor. They knew selling us a non-Sam as it were for half a season would be hard - they needed somethings to 'humanise' him. And also i think to make a case for why soulless Sam might be quite happy not having his soul back.

And I think it's no coincidence that Sam's sexual behaviour sans soul, mirrors exactly what we saw from Dean in earlier seasons. Again i think this is an important cue to the audience that the way Sam is having sex - one night stands, paying for it - is not being presented as a bad thing - just as you say, uncharacteristic for Sam.

Two finals things. Dean does make a reference to Sam being a virgin thru high school at some point (an s3 ep I think), although this could just be Dean teasing. Also is the the girl Sam beds in Clap Your hands, the waitress or the girl from the alien enthusiasts encampment. (pretty sure)

[fannishliss.livejournal.com]

I have a bit of a different take on Sam's motivation in not sleeping around. I think as a keen observer of his big brother, he saw that Dean took comfort wherever he could, but playing around with girls and then leaving them behind wasn't something he could do lightly. I'm thinking specifically of evidence like in After School Special, where Sam had a hard enough time just trying to make a good friend in the short amount of time he'd be there.... whereas Dean jumps right in with a girl and then faces a fairly heavy emotional scene as a result.

In another early Sam scene, one of his flashbacks in Heaven was having Thanksgiving dinner at a girl's house. I think he took great emotional pleasure in the aspect of courtship, meeting the family, getting dressed up for dinner, and it struck me as a lot less about the girl herself.

I think that Dean definitely compensated for moving around a lot by sleeping with girls whenever he could manage, whereas Sam was always frustrated by wanting more.

After Jessica, we meet Madison and Sarah. In both instances, Sam felt simpatico with the women, enough to believe that maybe he would make a real connection with them. With his hookup with Dr. Roberts in s4, I was always sure that it was a sign that the demon blood was lowering his inhibitions... also, he was already sexually involved with Ruby, so his bar had been lowered. (I am a fan of Ruby, but Sam's relationship with her was really bad for him, natch!!) His love her and leave her response when they were moving on from the Siren case was a sign that something was really off with Sam--- and it was.

I think that soulless Sam has sex because Sam is a very sexual person. His sex drive is just as high as Dean's and when he seals the deal, he goes for what he wants. But when he has a soul, he wants sex to mean something. I don't think it's that he lacks confidence. I think in general, Sam is a very confident guy, and we've never seen anybody turn him down (what single lady would?!?!?)

Anybody who'd like to rec good stories or metas that deal especially with soulless Sam -- come on over to our new com, no_soul_sam. Join us! because he is HOT. :D

rec: ash48 meta on no-soul Sam and SEX!!

[pingback-bot.livejournal.com]

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[maenad.livejournal.com]

Ooh, meta. I love meta. Thank you for writing it. :)

Sam has another sexual encounter in S4 and this one is probably my favourite of all his sex scenes (4.14 Sex and Violence). He's more relaxed and confident than we have seen him with women up until now. He strikes up a rapport with Dr. Roberts fairly quickly. We again witness how passionate he is during sex... still somewhat needy but clearly enjoying the fun side of it. He seems comfortable in his own body for the first time.

I don't know - that struck me about as close to soulless-Sam as Sam is likely to get. There's certainly flirtatious banter going on, but the terms of the relationship are very simply and bluntly defined, basically as: 'So, casual sex?' 'Yes please!' Afterwards he has no interest even in waving goodbye to her; there's no point pretending any of this has meaning. There's also the quasi-sex scene with Lilith, where he lures her into bed and then tries to kill her. There's a degree of coldness there that wasn't there before.

Of course, it's not the same sort of red flag. Sam 'doesn't care' in an entirely different way - it's not that he lacks empathy or kindness, he's just lost so many bits of what defined his personality that little things like the pattern of his relationships could scarcely seem to matter. It doesn't really stack up next to your whole family dying ... a lot, angels looking like they want to wash their hands every time they come near you and the world probably ending soon. By contrast, Dean's relationships acquired a lot more emotional weight that season.

As with many of soulless!Sam’s actions, they are partially him. He didn’t “suddenly” become incredible in the sack (see prostitute’s reaction in Clap Your Hands...). He’s always been presented as being damn fine in that area (Heart and Sex and Violence are good examples). We can compare this to the way he hunted. He already had incredible hunting skills, it’s just that without a soul he was able to hunt more ruthlessly so without emotion he was able to have more sex regularly.

I'd invert that - I think souls are still basically about identity, and soulless-Sam is more of an after-image than anything else. He's riding on a whole lifetime of Sam's experiences, so he remembers how to be reasonably good at a lot of things - but there's very little he learns or comes to appreciate for himself. Whatever Bobby says (and what interests me about You Can't Handle the Truth is how many of the 'truths' aren't so true - Bobby, Lisa and Dean's truths all incorporate the assumption that Sam is fine; Sam isn't fine, and that changes everything), Sam isn't a better hunter without his soul. He's sloppy, erratic and incurious, and he makes mistakes Sam never would have. I'd be willing to bet that, if you could somehow get data from all his various girlfriends, the soulless-version would come out as the worse lover. :)

[greyowl88.livejournal.com]

Ohh....look at those pics! Beautifully coloured, with those frames...gorgeous!!

I'll be back to read tomorrow. My brain is offline right now. lol. ;)

[cookiemom6067.livejournal.com]

Sam may have often felt that some girls would be “out of his league”. Dean even says as much when he first meets Jessica. In fairness to Dean, I never took that statement at face value - I think it's pretty clear he was razzing Sam more than making a factual judgment.

The only time we see him even remotely interested in someone is with Lindsay, a waitress, in Free to Be You and Me.

It's interesting that you say that, because I don't see any interest in Lindsay on Sam's part. He consistently shuts down her attempts to get to know him. Other than as an innocent to be saved in the scene with the other hunters, I just don't see it. That's part of the reason I was so annoyed by the Lindsay character, aside from her general nosy presumption that if Sam had secrets, she was entitled to know them. And apparently there was a sex scene? No wonder they cut it.

...he picks up a waitress and is caught in bed with her when Dean returns from having disappeared in episode 6.09

Nitpick correction here: the hippy chick was not the waitress, she was a UFO enthusiast that wanted to "help" Sam "look for his brother" - wink, wink, nudge, nudge. I have no doubt that he certainly would have picked up the waitress if Dean hadn't been so indignant that Sam was giving her the "Silent 'Hey, how ya doin'.'"

Supernatural isn’t a TV show that grounds itself in romance

LOL at the very profound understatement!!!!!!

Regarding Sam's "Rawr Sex God" style: it always was interesting to me to see that shy widdle Sammy was like that, while Dean seems to have been Mr. Incredibly Romantic and Sweet, judging by his scene with Anna and the dreamed interlude with Lisa at the beginning of 6.03 "The Third Man"(right before my eyes get stuck on Sam doing all that exercise without his shirt on...), and to a lesser extent the post-angry fight clench portion of his encounter with Cassie in "Route 666."

I remember being really surprised the first time I saw "Heart" at the sheer length of that scene! Thanks for the post - interesting. Contemplating Sam Winchester in a sexual context is definitely more fun than work!

ETA: I think that there is something in what Jared had to say about Sam without a soul being more purely rational, weighing pros and cons and picking the side with the most weight on it. One can imagine the thought process of "Sex feels good, here is someone offering it at a very low cost to me (in terms of effort)." He knows he's not going to be feeling any emotional fallout and he couldn't care less if the women in question do.

[cookiemom6067.livejournal.com]

I think a partial answer to that is the flip side of the "Sam has meaningful sex" coin. Dean's women don't matter as much - to him or the plot.

[cookiemom6067.livejournal.com]

Sam's killer peen

MMM - what a way to go!

[cookiemom6067.livejournal.com]

Sam isn't a better hunter without his soul. He's sloppy, erratic and incurious, and he makes mistakes Sam never would have.

I hadn't thought of that, but you're absolutely right.

[gidgetgal9.livejournal.com]

I enjoyed your insight - a lot and I think you are right- Sam's sexual encounters over the years help define him. :)

[rhymephile.livejournal.com]

Another aspect to this meta I'd like to see covered is Sam's atypical response to Dean's constant and sometimes overt sexualizing of women they encounter. You would think two hetero brothers would behave the same way, ogling women and hoping -- like Dean -- to score whenever possible. Sam was never like that, especially in earlier seasons. He often acts annoyed and chastises Dean whenever Dean isn't "thinking with his upstairs brain."

I've always wondered why that was. True, he's not as much of a horndog as Dean is, but his dislike of Dean's antics seemed to go far beyond mere "Oh it's Dean being Dean" kind of stuff, to the point that he often felt gay to me, or even asexual, in the way he was written.

Of course, I don't have specific instances because that would lead me to have to go back and re-watch pretty much all the episodes from Season 1-3, but I'm sure you can remember more often than not Sam being annoyed rather than impressed at Dean's skills, and it wasn't due to jealousy either. I wonder how that ties in with your well-researched examination of his sexual history?

[luminosity]

I enjoyed mulling over your geekaholic's color choices re the frames, beyond their obvious complement to the images inside. :)

Lovely post.

[etoile444.livejournal.com]

I've always thought of Sam and Dean in regards to sex that the writers wanted to present the unexpected. The writers wanted to remind us that there's more to a character than meets the eye. I think the portrayl of both boys' sexuality is an example of this. We see Dean as a cad, but then we see how gentle he is with women, how secretly he wants something meaningful. with Sam it is the opposite. We see him so shy, but the he's all lusty.

However, the point is: "what does the soulless man feel?" (that's an oxymoron huh)! Sam without soul is an animal. If he's horny he'll act on it. So, it goes without saying to speculate that Sam is actually a pretty horny guy. He just never acted on it.

I do want to say that being not only the brother of the male model type (god I love how Sam actually said that), but also the younger brother would have been intimidating. Of course when they were younger all the girls would be going for Dean. Sam probably did question his own hotness. The soulless guy did not because he also had a considerable superiority complex.

[cordelia-gray.livejournal.com]

Ooh, very interesting analysis! I enjoyed the helpful pictures, for research purposes, of course :)

The prostitute scene in 6.03 really convinced me that there was something Wrong With Sam, most likely his soul not having made it out of the Cage - I wrote a whole long rant about it at the time :)

I really like your insights about Ruby, and I'm torn about Dr. Roberts - on on hand, it's one of my favourite Sam sex scenes as well. On the other hand, I think the casual sex and the even more casual dismissal of her afterwards were symptomatic of how much Sam was going off the rails at that point, and in some ways of the fact that he didn't necessarily think he was going to survive the confrontation with Lilith that was coming.

Anyway, nicely done! I may be back later with more thoughts.

Are you going to do one of these for Dean as well? I'd be curious to see that.

[(Anonymous)]

I've always wondered why that was. True, he's not as much of a horndog as Dean is, but his dislike of Dean's antics seemed to go far beyond mere "Oh it's Dean being Dean" kind of stuff, to the point that he often felt gay to me, or even asexual, in the way he was written.

This makes me wonder why Sera clarified Dean *not* being gay or bisexual at a recent con (minus the fact that Dean/Cas fans insist on dragging their shipping into the show and conventions etc) but did not clarify if Sam was or was not gay or bisexual. I would assume that he is not gay, but is he bi??

[monicawoe.livejournal.com]

This is all kinds of awesome!!

Clearly a topic that calls for lots and lots of research! I do hope you need to update this meta after season 7 ; )