I think the utilize Jensen well–and he is a fantastic actor–but that Jared really doesn’t get to show his chops.

I read a critique of last season that mentioned that the reason people were having trouble relating to Sam was how little of the Sam has been in Sam’s POV lately. I’m not saying so much that there’s a shortage of Sam, or even of Sam-related plot lines (though personally I sort of feel like there is, but I really love Sam and would probably feel like there wasn’t enough if the show were 80% him, so I’m trying to ignore my bias as much as I can…) but that we didn’t get to see much of how he thought of things. Even when he found out he’d been possessed, the focus was on how Dean felt about that and about Kevin. Which mattered, don’t get me wrong, but people found Sam unsympathetic in that plot line, which was very unexpected given the first part of the season, when I really thought that finding out about the possession would have been a big emotional thing for Sam, especially considering what happened last time he was possessed (and way back in S2 with Meg as well–this is not the first time Sam’s killed someone while possessed. And Cas and Bobby with Lucifer as well.)

For the first few seasons, I read someone saying that it was a show about Sam from Dean’s point of view. Jared’s name first in the credits supports this to some degree. And I like that set-up but if it’s something the writers want to continue, they need to also keep the part where it’s Dean’s POV about Sam, so that there’s some kind of balance, instead of Dean’s POV about Dean with some Sam being concerned about him. Or, if they want to change from that and not have as much of the overarching plot be Sam focused–which is also fine–they need to switch the POV accordingly as well.

But Sam hasn’t had the opportunity to show his thoughts to the audience the way Dean has in quite some time, so when the story lines lean heavily towards Dean, he doesn’t have much of a role.

And God, I could not be less interested in the angel plot lines, or, to an even larger degree, the stuff with Crowley’s mother. Too many scenes without either of the boys in them.

His role really has been summed up in “DEAN, NO!” this season. I however am thinking he might try to raise Lucifer and take him in to remove the mark. Here’s hoping anyhow.

I’m still hopeful that they’ll pull it together before the season ends. It’s been amazing to watch Jared (and Jensen) grow as an actor for the past 10 years and I hope they will actually utilize his talents in the show again.

It’s the longest running show because fans care enough to keep watching and the actors are genuinely passionate about their characters. Not that the newer writers are doing a stellar job. It’s all about ratings.

The show is about Sam and Dean’s relationship. They are both the main characters. They’ve had fairly even storylines (Dean selling his soul, Sam’s demon blood addiction, etc.) up until season 9 when Dean acquired the Mark of Cain. After Gadreel was expelled, Sam’s role took a back seat and stayed there. It was slightly better at the beginning of season 10 when he was tracking Dean down. After episode 5, Sam has barely had any plots to himself.

There haven’t been any episodes dedicated to his current mindset, unlike in previous seasons where Dean had whole episodes dedicated to him (such as s5’s The End, The Curious Case of Dean Winchester, and 99 Problems, to name a few). 9’s Mother’s Little Helper might be the last good Sam-centric episode.

These current writers have only been apart of the show since maybe season 6, except current show runner Jeremy Carver and producer Bob Singer. This group doesn’t know how to write Sam so they rely more on Dean. They don’t even give supporting characters Castiel and Crowley much to do anymore even though their actors are series regulars.

This season could have been full of Cain and Abel/Dean and Sam parallels, but instead they focus all on Dean’s struggles. That could’ve been paralleled with Sam’s demon blood addiction, but they haven’t even touched on that.

You sound like you’re not active in the online fandom where fans DO critique the show and what’s wrong with it. You can be critical of something and still be a fan, FYI.

And now Sam is reduced to the dewy-eyed supportive spouse role, standing behind his man and not getting much say in anything. He’s one step away from being the sexy lamp and it pisses me off that the writers don’t know how to handle his character.