Supernatural is character driven drama. And that character, so far, is Dean.
Yes, Sam is supposed to be the special one. Yeah, Sam is the one who resisted taking up the "family business." But this has become Dean's story behind the scenes.
Season 1
It started slow, in Season 1, with 2 brothers with different wants. Dean's outright motivation in tracking Sam down at college was to find John. But along the way, we find out Dean is kind of missing having a family. We find out about Sam's desire to be normal, and he just wants to get the job over with and return to school.
Then Jess dies. Now Sam is fully invested in getting revenge, and finding John. At the end of the season, the brothers find out that they can have their revenge, but it will require sacrificing their dad.
And they aren't willing to do it. And they pay the price with Dean's life, until John sacrifices himself to save Dean.
Season 2
Now it's all about Dean. Dean doesn't know to live with his guilt over John's death, and he also has to live with knowing he may have to kill Sam. By the end of the season, Dean has learned several things - that he really wants a normal life, but knows he can't have it; that his brother is the most important thing in his life; and that he's willing to die to protect Sam.
And Sam.... well, Sam finds out he's basically a monster, but mostly just seems along for the ride. Shotgun, of course.
Season 3
This really should be Sam's season. Dean learns that he really does want to live, and that the family has to stop sacrificing themselves for each other. But Sam gets short-changed. He learns the importance of family, and that he's stronger than he knows - able to defeat Lilith with his psychic power. But his character is scarcely revealed.
Season 4
So here we are. Dean is once again learning things about his character, like he's capable of great evil. But Sam... well, Sam finally may be about to reveal some character.
We're finding out that Sam is afraid of the demon side of himself. He doesn't want to become a monster, but isn't sure he'll be able to overcome the darkness inside.
So maybe, maybe, Sam (and the audience) will finally learn something intimate about his character.
Big message time
I think Sam, and Dean, have to learn that The Greatest Evil is Within Ourselves.
I put that in caps because it's an old theme - maybe most famously explored by Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. But the show will have a fresh take on it - 2 brothers who consider themselves monsters, hunting monsters. How do they hunt what's inside them?
So maybe Sam has to learn this year that he's not unique in being capable of evil. We all are capable of evil, but we have to actively fight it. And he'll learn to live with himself.
Dean is the one who's going to teach it to him.
Dean, the teacher
Dean has to learn to live with the knowledge of what he's capable of. He'll either learn to live with it - or die trying to rid himself of the guilt. Either way, he's an example to Sam. Sam is starting to learn already that the struggle against evil never relents. He learned that in the Metamorphosis episode. But he hasn't learned that his capacity for evil isn't unique. We all fight evil, every day, it's just sometimes we don't recognize it as evil. See the Gordon storyline.
All this is tied up in YED's grand plan.
Did YED want more than the Earth?
Maybe YED's grand plan is take over the Earth, and Heaven.
Now that we've been introduced to the concept of an angel's Grace, we know it can be freely given up. And what can be given up can be taken. And if angels are Heaven's warriors, what defends heaven from Lucifer if all the angels are gone?
YED's grand plan could be to recruit angels to his side, by making them lose, or taking, their Grace (thus turning them human), or making them into demons by bringing out their capacity for evil. After all, the road to Hell is paved with good intentions. Can the angels do evil, by doing what they think is good? Why not? Humans do it. And the angels are a different kind of evil, a passive evil. They're evil through indifference.
Sam and Dean's role
That may be why God wanted Dean pulled from Hell. Dean is special in a couple of ways now - he's uniquely capable of controlling Sam, and helping Sam learn to deal with his guilt and fear. He also has sympathy, or at least empathy, now for those who give in to their capacity for evil.
Maybe that's the key to defeating YED's plan. I'm still thinking about how that could work.
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