I'm not trying to argue with you, but I still don't understand the "top billing"' issue. How does Jared have top billing? And what benefit does it give him? The only thing I've ever seen that doesn't represent them perfectly equally is the credits to the show. Someone's name had to come first, both in the credits, and on imdb, since they only list one name at a time. I'm not a Hollywood expert, but I don't see how having his name first gets Jared anything special. Who knows, maybe they flipped a coin way back in the beginning and Jared won. I'm not trying to belittle your concern, I just genuinely don't understand why it's a big deal.

But yeah, Jared is top-billed. Jensen's second-billed… it's not equal billing. The assumption in fandom over the years has been either that it's because Sam was the lead character initially, or because Jared has better representation. *shrugs* Either way, though, he still gets the benefit of that.

Thanks for coming by!

Top credited? How so? Because his name shows up first at the beginning of the episode? That doesn't make him anything special. Someone's name has to come first when they run the credits, since they only show one name at a time. As far as I have ever heard, they're both listed as leads in the series, in equal standing, and so the show would carry the same amount of weight on both of their resumes. For one of them to benefit more from their part in the show, wouldn't one of them have to be the star, and have the other listed as a supporting role? That's not how I've ever seen or heard of them being billed. Am I missing something?

Anyway, yeah… as for the video, I bet it's better to be the top credited star of a show than to have a little outtake tacked on to the end of the episode. Jared's still coming out on top, as far as resume building goes.

Hmm. And yet every single post of yours is dedicated to criticism of Dean and suggests that there's some sort of evil plot by Kripke against Sam/Jared or something. I've gotta tell you, it's totally ridiculous to me. And it appears to me that you do hate Dean for whatever reason. So I'm not blaming "the audience" for your *personal* reaction, because I certainly believe it is extreme and atypical, at least among the fans who love BOTH brothers. [to be continued...]

I agree with Sylvia. Even if Jared is genuinely, sincerely happy with everything about Show, it can't hurt his self-esteem any to see the fans clamoring to see more of him. He seems to love what he does for a living, and if people want to see more of him, that's proof he's doing it well. Nothing wrong with letting him know that. He deserves to know.

I dunno, just something to think about. Jared's been pushing publicly for evil Sam since season 2, so I see no reason to doubt his sincerity about it, but I agree neither boy would probably say it in public if he was unhappy. Whether JA was happy all those years while Dean had nothing to do but tag along after Sam, whether JP is unhappy that Sam's finally going evil, it's hard to say.

Seriously? So because Dean has his own issues and is struggling this season, suddenly he doesn't love Sam? That's just ridiculous.

BOTH boys have cried. BOTH boys have angsted over their issues. So what? How does Dean's angsting take away from Sam in any way? I didn't feel that Sam crying and angsting in Playthings took away from Dean in any way.

Sam has certainly wallowed in self-pity about Jess, about everyone around him dying, about his demon blood, about going evil. He sure has.

And wasn't it Dean who has told Sam that he's proud of him (Scarecrow)? And wasn't it Sam who didn't like who Dean was in S3 and he told him he wanted his big-brother back (Fresh Blood)?

Dean isn't perfect, nor would I expect him to be. But there's certainly more to him than angst. And I guess if Sam is just staying with Dean out of guilt, then you are correct, Sam would be better off leaving. I'm sure Dean wouldn't want Sam to stay with him because he feels he owes Dean.

I find Dean's storyline totally fascinating this season. He FINALLY isn't just all about SAM and SAM'S destiny. I appreciate that the angels have forced Dean to reexamine his stance on his faith and of angels and God. And yeah, he keeps getting punched in the gut and put through the wringer and yet he finds a way to keep going. I'm fascinated by Dean's struggles to deal with a world (including Sam) that changed while he was away. I am really enjoying watching him try to manage all of the external forces around him as they try to break him and upset the brotherly dynamic and I love that the brother's relationship has been shaken up. Perhaps what doesn't kill him will make him stronger! The season isn't over yet. It's juicy stuff. And Jensen has been knocking it out of the park every damn episode with his performances.

As far as the reviewers and comments that were made, maybe it was all down to where you looked. I remember having a conversation here, with Sylvia, about how the video was hilarious and wonderful and unless they did something similar with Jared as the star, it was wrong, unbalanced, and out of line for them to put that video on the end of an episode instead of the gag reel or DVDs. 10 episodes down the line, there's been no change in the balance of the show, and despite several more shorter than they should have been episodes, there has been no Jared counterpart to that video.

I'm not trying to tell anyone who liked the video and thought it was perfect that they're wrong. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. I'm just telling you why I thought it was wrong.

Nah. Adding the angels to the mytharc and Dean's hell storyline has been wonderful for the show. We already had demons who were ready to follow super-special Sam because he is the Demon King-to-be. We've seen Sam pull the woe is me card time and time again as well. So I think the angels have been a great addition and have expanded the mythology. In fact, in reading mainstream media reviews, it seems to me that most feel Dean's angel storyline has been the best part of this season and I love how they have integrated Castiel's storyline into the show and I find Dean and Castiel's ever evolving relationship totally fascinating. And thank goodness the ratings for those first few episodes of this season were so great that the the CW decided not to cancel it after this season. Yay!