‘Supernatural’s Dean Winchester: All the reasons he’s the worst
Supernatural stans, sit down. This article isn’t for you.
This is for the people who’ve dared to dive down the hole that is Supernatural on CW, come out on the other side questioning what the hell you just watched, and hating Dean Winchester (Jensen Ackles) like a normal human being.
The older of the Winchester brothers, Dean has always been the one more invested in the monster-hunting business than real life. Maybe that’s because he was the first kid John Winchester trained on the family business. Maybe it’s because he’s a sociopath and likes to murder. We’ll never be too sure.
But one thing is for certain: 90% of the bad things that happen on Supernatural are Dean’s fault. How he has managed to die and come back to life as many times as he has left us beyond confused at this point, because the dumb things he does should’ve killed him permanently. Dean Winchester is the absolute worst protagonist.
He fights with Sam like a child
Sure, it’s a realistic sibling dynamic. But when we’re watching the same old “Sam and Dean separate because they’re fighting” again and again, it gets old. And 99% of the time? Dean is the one who did something stupid, and Sam had to step up and be the mature one.
He’s at least partially suicidal
The number of times this man has offered to die would normally have someone locked up in a psychiatric hospital and under close suicide watch. Yet in Supernatural, Dean is allowed to walk the streets until the next time he feels like offering himself up. There’s being selfless, and then there’s masochism. Dean is definitely in group two.
Dean’s strange grudges against Sam
The Winchester family has a lot of issues. But even if we put aside the monster hunting and the dead mom, the way Dean treats Sam in the name of “getting even” is stupid. Sam tried to get out of the monster-hunting game when he went to college, yet now Dean holds a grudge against Sam for it and has abandoned him on several occasions because of it.
Clingier than a velcro sneaker
Talk about abandonment issues. Granted, he learned these from John, but Dean cannot be on his own. Sure, maybe he has dark thoughts, and that plays into it. But the way he meets someone and automatically puts them on a pedestal until they fall is actually quite terrifying.
His relationships are disgusting
No surprise, his love life is just as messy as his other relationships. Supernatural has a history with not properly treating its female characters right, and it starts with Dean. The guy can’t decide if he wants to be in a relationship or not, and then if he gets bored, he’ll drop his girlfriend like they never met. There’s nothing healthy about that.
A temperament that could kill — and has
Anger issues galore. It’s so easy to upset Dean about literally anything, but he can’t even pretend to contain it. Maybe it’s his history with intense violence, but automatically he has to act. He’s not the kind of guy to let something go, he’ll beat you to death before he’ll admit defeat about anything.
He’s learned nothing from his past
Maybe the worst mistake of his, but it feels like while Sam has been able to grow, Dean hasn’t. He’s still stuck in the same old mindset he’s been in since season one, minus the alcoholism. He’s still full of self-loathing and self-hatred, he’s too clingy to those around him, and he can’t control his emotions. What kind of hero doesn’t grow over time?
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