"We've got work to do."
Samuel "Sam" Winchester is a hunter who hunts supernatural creatures with his older brother Dean Winchester.
Early Life
Sam Winchester as a Baby.
Sam Winchester was born on May 2, 1983 to John and Mary Winchester. Sam was the couple's second-born child and younger son, four years younger than his older brother, Dean Winchester. Sam is different from his older brother, Dean, in that he is rational, sensitive, and seemingly more concerned with living a "normal life" than his brother. In spite of this, it is apparent that he would do anything for Dean. He also rebelled against his father's attempts to raise him as a hunter and enrolled in Stanford University. When Dean came to ask Sam for his help in the first episode, the viewers are introduced to Jessica, Sam's girlfriend. It is apparent that Sam was somewhat popular, despite no one knowing what it is his family really does. His brother, Dean, is the only one allowed to call him by his nickname, Sammy. Sam has also had more love interests than Dean, although Dean has had a few flings on the show. Sam is named after his Grandfather, Samuel Campbell. Sam has a half-brother, Adam Milligan.
When he was only six months old (November 2, 1983), his mother Mary was killed in his nursery by Azazel. Infant Sam was saved when his older brother, Dean, ran outside with him while their father John went back to attempt to rescue Mary, who was stuck on the ceiling and consumed by the flames that later engulfed the entire house.
Season 1
At the start of the series, Sam is seen a senior in Stanford who is to applying for law school. Sam also has a girlfriend, Jessica, whom he lives with and was secretly planning to marry. One night, Dean comes to Sam's apartment to seek his help after their father goes missing; although reluctant at first, Sam eventually accompanies his brother.
Sam in the "Pilot" episode, seeing Jessica die.
After defeating a Woman in White and discovering a trail to find their father, Sam returns to Stanford but ultimately witnesses Jessica's death in exactly the same manner as his mother, prompting him to embark on a journey with his brother to find their father and to kill the demon, to avenge both his mother and Jessica's deaths.[1] The boys deal with dangerous mythical creatures and urban legends such as the wendigo,[6] Bloody Mary,[7] and shapeshifters.[8] During this time, Sam begins experiencing episodes of precognitive dreams [7] and once displays telekinesis.[9]
The boys fend off mystical creatures and urban legends such as the Woman in White, the wendigo, folklore's Bloody Mary, and shape-shifters. Through these missions, Sam begins experiencing episodes of precognition and once displays telekinesis.The season finale concludes with Sam, Dean, and their father John escaping from a horrific crash with The Demon in Salvation, Iowa. While Sam is driving the Winchesters to a hospital after Dean and John were hurt, a truck crashes into them, causing massive damage to Dean's Impala with the Winchesters inside, and leaving their fate uncertain at best...
Season 2
In the beginning of the second season, Sam takes a more active role in the hunting. He tells Dean that this is what their dad would have wanted him to do. The Demon's plans for Sam are still unknown. Dean and Sam meet with three people that John once knew: Ellen Harvelle, her daughter Jo, and their computer genius associate Ash. They assist the brothers in their hunting. In the episode "Simon Said", Sam displays immunity to Andy Gallagher's power of mind control, as opposed to Dean who gave him his beloved Impala. He is also immune to the demonic sulfur virus in the episode "Croatoan".
Sam engaged in the Alternate Realty.
Since "Hunted", Sam has learned what his father told Dean moments before his death: that if he (Dean) could not save Sam, he would have to kill him. Sam is convinced that he must save as many people as he can in order to change his destiny, as he drunkenly states in "Playthings".
Sam was possessed by Meg.
In the episode "Born Under a Bad Sign", Sam is possessed by the same demon responsible for Meg's possession in Season 1 (see Meg Masters). It is also hinted at that this is also the same demon that lead to the death Ellen's husband. It becomes clear that if the time comes for Dean to shoot his brother, Dean would not be able to do so. In this episode Sam (while still possessed) also kills another hunter.
In the episode "What Is and What Should Never Be", Sam and Dean aren't close in the alternate reality created by a djinn. Neither Sam nor Dean had ever hunted, and Jessica is Sam's fiancee. As in reverse to reality, their mother is alive, but their father is dead.
The first episode of the season finale of season two, All Hell Breaks Loose, Part 1, Sam is trapped in a haunted abandoned town in South Dakota with "Others" of his kind. It was revealed that there is demon blood in Sam and his mother Mary Winchester knew who the demon was, much to Sam's surprise. He is stabbed by a soldier named Jake and collapses in his older brother's arms just as he and fellow hunter Bobby arrive to the rescue. He dies within the minute, amongst his brother's pleas for him to stay with him. In the second episode of the season finale, Dean made a deal with a "Crossroads Demon" to deliver himself to Hell in one year, in exchange for Sam's life. Sam doesn't know of what happened while he was dead, and is in fact unaware he was ever dead in the first place. In the following battle to prevent Jake and Azazel (YED) from unleashing a demonic army, Sam shoots and kills Jake, unloading seven bullets into his body - 4 in the back and 3 in Jake's face. This is the first time Sam kills a man, or someone that isn't a demon, and seems to show no remorse, this could be because of the fact that Jake killed him prior.. Azazel questions Dean if he is sure that what he brought back in Sam is 100% pure. Sam figures out that he was dead, and tells Dean he'll get him out of the deal he made, no matter what.
Season 3
Season 3 focuses on Sam taking a much darker tone than he had had previously, while he desperately tries to find a loophole in Dean's deal. He picks up the broken Colt and with help from Bobby and the mysterious Ruby, fixes it.
Sam summons the Cross Roads Demon
In the episode, "Sin City", Dean is trapped with a lustful demon, causing Sam to come to his rescue. As a race unfolds, the demon calls forth help. Sam is well aware of this too. As the seductive demon breaks free due to help, Sam is forced to kill one of them with the refurbished Colt. As Sam is about to pull the trigger on the seductive demon, Dean pleads him to stop. Too late, Sam fires, killing her.
Now, more determined to free Dean, Sam summons the Crossroad Demon and forces it to let Dean out of his deal. The Demon tells Sam that shes just a "sales woman" and that she has a boss. At point-blank range, he kills the demon with the Colt.
Deeper into the season, Sam is pitted against Gordon Walker. A rapid confrontation turns into the death of Gordan after he's turned into a vampire. Cutting his head off, Sam feels no remorse for killing him.
Again he shows his dark side in the episode "Jus In Bello" when Ruby said she's needed a heart of a virgin to kill demons and get them out of the building and Dean didn't want to do that Sam actually wanted to help Ruby. In this episode, we also discover that Sam, as well as Dean, has a pentagram tattoo on the left side of his chest to prevent being possessed. He must have had this tattoo done between Season 2's Born Under a Bad Sign and Jus In Bello.
Sam killing Vampire-Turned Gordon.
In the Season Finale, Dean is down to 30 hours and Sam suggests they summon Ruby. Not trusting her, they take her knife and head for Indiana where they find out Lilith is located. After many attempts to try to kill Lilith, the brothers fail. Dean discovers Lilith is possessing Ruby's previous body and sends Hell Hounds after him. A crying Sam pleads Lilith to stop. After Dean is dead, Lilith shoots a "burning white light" at Sam but he is left unharmed as he is immune. After that, Lilith is scared that her powers do not work on him and leaves after Sam attempts to stab her with Ruby's knife. He picks up the body of his mauled brother and cries out to him.
Season 4
Dean and Sam re-unite after Dean escapes Hell.
After Dean's death, Sam has lost all contact with Bobby. Even still, he tries several methods on trying to bring Dean back including making a deal with the cross-road demon. Still wanting to never give up hope, he lodges in Illinois, close to where his brother is buried. After Bobby learned of Dean's escape, the two go to visit Sam. They find him enjoying his "wild side." A confused Sam tries to attack Dean, but Bobby stops him and tells him that it's the real Dean. Now trying to find information on who saved Dean, their search leads them to a diner where they meet demons who claim they know who broke Dean out. Dean, obviously knowing it's a bluff, slaps a demon twice in the face, gets up and nonchalantly leaves. Sam, however, tells Dean that they're demons and they need to die or other people will. Dean protests against this. Later, Sam returns to the diner to confront the demons. As he enters, he's attacked but realizes that the demons have had their eyes burned out. He calls forth Ruby to see if she has found anything. As the two discuss, Sam shows that his powers have developed and he's able to exorcise demons using his powers.
Sam helps Dean defeat the spirits of Agent Henricksen and Meg Masters in "Are You There God? It's Me, Dean Winchester".
Sam's powers rapidly develop, with guidance from Ruby in "Metamorphosis" and in "It's the Great Pumpkin, Sam Winchester", as he's strong enough to exorcise Samhain. In "I Know What You Did Last Summer", Dean finally gets an explanation of what happened to Sam and Ruby in the four months he was gone. Shortly after Dean's death, Sam had gone to the Crossroad Demon, hoping to switch places with Dean, but was rebuffed. Ruby returned shortly after and, betraying Lilith, saved Sam. The pair made love at least once, and Ruby began helping Sam develop his powers.
Sam, along with Dean and Ruby protected Anna Milton, when Castiel and Uriel arrived and demanded the girl be turned over to them to be killed.
It is revealed in "On the Head of a Pin" it is revealed that Sam drinks demon blood to fuel his powers. He eventually kills Alastair after Dean fails to interrogate him.
As the series progresses, he begins to become more cold and cruel than he ever was. It is revealed in "The Rapture" that he's addicted to the demon blood.
During "Lucifer Rising" it was revealed that Sam had been used by Ruby the entire time. In a plot to kill Lilith, thus breaking the final seal releasing Lucifer. Sam succeeded in destroying Lililth, but as a result, Lucifer was released from his prison.
Season 5
Lucifer tells Sam that he is his true vessel.
In the direct aftermath of Sam breaking the final seal and freeing Lucifer, Sam tries desperately to redeem himself by trying to stop the devil’s plans. However, realizing that he is a liability in battle, Sam and Dean separate temporarily after and Sam has another attempt at a normal life until he is approached by Lucifer, in the form of the deceased Jess. Lucifer tells Sam that he is his true vessel, in conjunction with Dean being the archangel Michael's true vessel.
Dean and Sam reunite shortly after this and Sam does his best to rebuild his relationship with his brother although the brothers are no longer as close as they once were and find it hard to reconnect.
That fact alone was emphasised in "Dark Side of the Moon", when Sam’s version of Heaven was completely devoid of his family and involved incidents that happened while he was away from the Winchesters, which causes Dean to discard the amulet Sam gave to him years prior, who is discouraged by Sam's different views of what Heaven is. In "Point of No Return", Sam takes the information he learned from his experience in Heaven and puts all his trust and faith in Dean, who admits he doesn’t believe in Sam and is convinced Sam will say “yes” to Lucifer at some point. However, Sam is shown to still have faith and belief in Dean and it is this faith that stops Dean from saying “yes” to Michael.
Brady taunts Sam.
Sam still lives with a craving, or at the least, temptations for demon blood. In "Good God, Y'all", when Sam kills two demons, he looks at the bloodied knife with slight wonderment. In "My Bloody Valentine", Sam is affected by Famine's ability and he attacks and drinks from Famine’s henchmen, becoming strong enough to exorcise five demons at once and eventually defeats Famine. However, he gets the blood out of his system as soon as possible, and is returned to Bobby's panic room. Sam also admits that he is angry all the time although he is unsure as to why, a trait that Lucifer tells him he will need when Sam finally agrees to be his vessel.
It is revealed in "The Devil You Know" that Sam's good friend from Stanford, Brady, was possessed all that time and Sam has been hounded by demons from even back then. Brady taunts Sam that perhaps the reason he is so angry and so easily manipulated by demons is because of all the demon blood inside of him. Sam doesn't deny this, but acknowledges this as an 'interesting theory'.
After discovering that Lucifer can he locked back into Hell using the rings of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Sam considers the enormous task of allowing the Devil to possess him in order for Sam to push him back into Hell. He discusses it with Bobby, who is at first very irritated by the sudden plan, but comes around to his way of thinking by "Two Minutes To Midnight". When Dean finds out, he argues with Sam that he can't do it, but later gives in to his plan, as it seems to be the only option left. Sam makes Dean promise not to try and bring him back from the cage, as that is too risky.
Sam fights for control over Lucifer.
In "Swan Song", Sam finally says "yes" to Lucifer, prior to which he consumes an incredible amount of demon blood to strengthen his body. Lucifer appears to take full control of Sam and starts a number of natural disasters around the globe. He also gathers all the remaining minions of Azazel who have been keeping watch over Sam his entire life. Lucifer informs Sam that they were always meant to be this way, two parts of the same whole and that Lucifer is Sam's true family. Sam strongly protests, and insists that he's going to "rip him apart from the inside out".
Sam (with Lucifer in his body) and Adam/Michael fall into Lucifer's cage.
Lucifer meets Michael in the chosen area for the final battle, during which he kills both Castiel and Bobby and severely injures Dean. However, Dean tells Sam that he's there for him and after glancing into the Impala, Sam's memories return enough for him to take control of his body again. Sam opens the gate to Lucifer's cage, and despite showing apprehension at jumping, he prepares to dive in, but is interrupted by Michael, who asks for Sam to stand back and let him fight Lucifer. Sam refuses and falls into the cage, pulling Michael in with him, effectively stopping the battle.
Sometime later, Dean accepts Sam's final request, to find Lisa Braeden and live a normal life, and sits down with them in their home. However, just outside the window, yet unseen by Dean or Lisa, stands Sam watching them.
Season 6
Sam watches as Dean reunites with their Grandfather
Sam wakes up mysteriously out of the cage and tries to get answers from Castiel with no results and searches for weeks, even going to Bobby for help. He eventually gives up on finding out and goes back to hunting, choosing not to contact Dean as he has the normal life he always wanted and didn't want to ruin that for him. Sometime along the way, he encounters a group of hunters from his mother's side of the family, including Samuel Campbell, who was thought to have been dead for years by Azazel. Soon, Sam goes hunting for dijinns and discovers that they're going after Dean next and nearly kill him.
This allows him to reunite him with his brother who is forced to tell him that he's been back the entire time and that he chose not to tell him because he would leave his normal life behind if he did. This made Dean angry at Sam and later at Bobby as he knew of Sam's return as well. Then Sam introduced Dean to their third cousins and Grandfather, from their mom's side.
Then Sam and Dean take Lisa and Ben to safety at Bobby's until they take care of the dijinns. The dijinns attacked the brothers and infect Dean, leaving Sam alone to fend these creatures off. He is nearly killed until Samuel and the rest of the family show up, leaving Sam to help Dean. Later, Dean decides not to return with Sam and to stay with Lisa and Ben, in order to keep them safe. Dean offers the Impala but Sam declines as he has his own car now and drives away, leaving his brother behind.
Sam is confronted by Dean.
Things get stranger between Sam and Dean, as Dean starts to notice that Sam has been acting differently ever since he came back into his life. He (presumably) uses a baby shapeshifter as bait to draw in the Alpha, stands aside when Castiel tortures a kid for intel on the angel buying souls (Balthazar), he even lets Dean get turned by a vampire to get more information on the Alpha Vampire. Dean tries to get to the bottom of this issue and finally (under a truth curse) confronts Sam about it. Sam, however, lies and says he just froze. When the brothers are held captive by the Goddess of Truth Veritas, the goddess reveals two things: Sam is able to lie even under the truth curse, and therefore he is not human. Sam convinces Dean that he's still Sam, but he knows something's wrong with him, and admits he needs help. Dean responds with beating Sam unconscious, and calling on Castiel for assistance.
Castiel confirms that Sam is not possessed by Lucifer, and is physically healthy, but his soul is missing. Dean plans on keeping Sam hostage, but Sam holds his ground, repeating his will to fix what's wrong with him. Later, Sam and Dean meet up with Samuel, who informs them that he's got a lead on the Alpha vampire. Sam and Dean join in on the hunt, with Sam following Samuel's group and Dean standing guard with Gwen. Dean sneaks away, and witnesses Sam helping the Campbells load the Alpha into their van. When confronted by Dean, Sam states that keeping this from Dean was his idea because they needed to ask questions, where Dean is a 'shoot first, ask questions later' kind of hunter.
The Alpha vampire attempts to turn Sam.
Sam helps Dean find out where Samuel is taking the creatures for interrogation by activating a GPS tracker in one of the his cell phones. They find the Alpha vampire, and take the opportunity to question him when Samuel leaves the room. The Alpha expresses an interest in Sam because of his soullessness, and later attacks Sam and attempts to turn him. Christian, revealed as a demon, prevents this and takes the Alpha away.
Crowley then appears on the scene, and through Samuel, is revealed to be the one who raised Sam from Lucifer's cage, and is in possession of his soul. He tells them that if Sam ever wants the return of his soul, he and Dean need to help Samuel to capture creatures for him. Currently, Sam doesn't see any other option than to 'play ball' with Crowley until the brothers find another way to get his soul back, and then they will get him back.
Sam's behavior, however, shows that he's definitely in conflict on whether he should get his soul back or not, or
Sam infiltrates the skinwalker nest.
even want to get his soul back. He tries to convince Dean that he's still the same Sam. He works Crowley's cases without question, and also claims that his brain works better than ever. His actions contradict this, as when dealing with a skinwalker case, Sam jumps to the conlusion that a women is the skinwalker they're looking for, and is ready to bag her up as soon as possible. When the brothers face the pack of skinwalkers, Sam orders Dean to take a shot at the pack leader, even when there was an innocent in the way.
Sam later comes clean to Dean about himself. He admits he's not his brother, that he's not the old Sam. He states he couldn't care less about Lisa and Ben, and doesn't even care that much about Dean, besides the fact that he needs his help. He also says he's done a lot worse than Dean's aware of, including killing innocent people in the line of duty. He says that despite how maybe he should feel guilty, he doesn't. He only looks at the positives of being soulless, which is getting the job done and not having any emotional effect, which to Sam, is "not the worst thing", Although, after some thought, Sam decides he should probably go back to being the old Sam, and get his soul back. Dean acknowledges this.
Sam quietly ponders over whether he wants his soul back.
However, Sam already shows signs of having second thoughts, or not wanting to change. When investigating the case of UFO abductions, Sam checks only one lead when Dean's abducted, but is side-tracked and picked up by a hippie chick and has sex with her, much to Dean's dismay. When the abductions are revealed to be the cause of fairies, Sam takes matters into his own hands when Dean is sent to jail. He confronts the leprechaun Wayne, who strikes a deal to lift Sam's soul from the cage. Sam expresses interest, but banishes him and the other fairies. When asked by Dean why he refused, Sam suggests that deals have never lead them anywhere good. Dean then questions whether Sam is having second thoughts, to which Sam denies with a simple "No."
Sam and Dean after a monster delivery.
Sam, while still unsure whether he wants his soul back, goes along with working for Crowley, despite Dean's remarks of them not getting anywhere. Later, Sam walks away on a small argument with Dean only to be knocked out by demons, led by none other than Meg. Sam detects her fear and suggests that she's running from Crowley, which to him makes sense, as Crowley is now the "big man on campus", and dubs Meg as a "Lucifer loyalist". When Meg asks how he knows, he simply replies it's what he'd do. He then makes a deal with her: the brothers give her Crowley ("with a bow"), but only on one condition: she must torture Crowley to get him to give Sam back his soul.
Sam bullies Castiel into helping the group.
When Dean expresses unease with working with a demon again, Sam retorts that they're working with demons now and that this is their shot to stop. He also assures Dean that they'll kill Meg the second they're done with them, and that they won't kill them first. He calls on Castiel to make sure of this. Sam tricks Castiel into thinking that they've found the Ark of the Covenant, to which the angel responds. When Castiel tells Sam that he's too busy with the war over Heaven to help, Sam reminds Castiel that he owes him and tells him that if he doesn't help, he'll hunt Castiel down and kill him. Castiel joins the group for searching for Crowley.
When Samuel gives the party the location, Sam, Dean, and Castiel meet up with Meg and her demons. Sam asks for the knife, to which Meg reluctantly hands to him. Sam uses the knife to kill one of the demons, saying he did the group a favor. A few moments later, Sam overhears Dean and Castiel talking about what damage could be done to Sam with the return of his soul.
Once inside Crowley's prison, Sam and Dean get captured by Crowley's demons, as the two have been sold out by Samuel. The two are put in separate cells, and while the demons take Dean away to have him killed by more demons, Sam bites his wrist hard enough to bleed. He uses his own blood to mark the ceiling with a devil's trap. He escapes his cell, and saves Dean from the demons.
The brothers confront Crowley.
A moment later, the brothers (along with Meg) confront Crowley. Sam demands for his soul, to which Crowley replies he simply can't. He states that he was lucky enough to get Sam's body out, as Michael and Lucifer are very violent when Crowley comes in contact. He then asks Sam why he even wants it back, as he too thinks that Sam will be broken once his soul is returned (Meg agrees to this). Disgusted, Sam tells Meg to kill Crowley, in which she fails. Crowley knocks Meg over, steals the knife, jams the devil's trap keeping him immobile, and flings Sam and Dean to the wall. Castiel intervenes, asking once again if he has the power to restore Sam's soul. Crowley says no, and Castiel burns the bones of the demon.
Sam walks away from his brother once again.
Outside the prison, Castiel tells Sam that they'll find another way to get his soul back before leaving to take care of the monsters still in the prison. Dean tries to reassure Sam, too, but Sam tells him that he doesn't think he wants his soul back after all. When Dean states that Sam isn't better the way he is, Sam disagrees and walks away without a word, despite his brother's calling.
Bobby being tasked to keep watch on Sam.
Sometime later, when Dean informs Sam and Bobby that he's made a deal with Death that could result in Sam getting his soul back, and with a "wall", Sam is still unwilling to get it back, and is sure his head will explode when Dean's scheme "goes sideways". He even sneaks out the house to try and steal the Pale Horseman's ring before Dean, but is foiled as Dean catches him and holds the ring in his hand. Sam falsely states he trusts Dean with his deal, and gives him false hope not to mess it up. With Bobby given the job to watch Sam, the latter asks if he'll lock him in the panic room. Bobby asks if he has to, but Sam replies he doesn't, and that "Dean's gotta do what he's gotta do."
Sam makes a deal with Balthazar.
He slips Bobby's watch over him again to summon Balthazar. He asks Balthazar for a way to keep his soul out of his body, and Balthazar, who wants to screw Dean over and have Sam in his debt, gives Sam the spell "for free." He also tells Sam that he has to make his body uninhabitable for his soul by committing patricide. He "needs the blood of his father, but his father needn't be blood," so Sam resolves that Bobby is the next best thing, as John Winchester has been long dead.
Bobby realizes what Sam is up to, however, and hits him over the head. Unfortunately, Sam vanishes before Bobby can tie him up. Bobby locks the door to the basement and then locks himself in the closet, where Sam quickly finds him. Sam breaks through the door with an ax, but Bobby has set a trap door outside the closet that drops Sam into the basement. Bobby asks Sam what he's doing through the basement door, to which Sam replies he's trying to survive, as Dean doesn't really care about him without a soul, and rather about his brother Sammy burning in Hell (speaking as if they are two different people). Sam later finds a way to escape after he gets Bobby monologuing. When Bobby leaves outside to look for him, Sam knocks him out from behind. He ties Bobby to a chair, and prepares to kill him, despite how he doesn't want to (he only looks at the bigger picture: he'll remain soulless). However, Dean shows up in the nick of time, and knocks Sam out.
Sam screams in pain as his soul is returns to his body.
Sam wakes up chained to the bed in the panic room, and catches glimpse of Dean through the small window of the panic room's door. He remains still and silent until Death shows up by his bed with a doctor's bag, containing his soul. Death explains to Sam that he will put up a wall inside his mind that will hold back the memories of the cage. He explains it may be "a little itchy", but advises not to "scratch the wall" as he will not like what happens. Sam fights while chained, shouting for Death to stay away from him, and begging Dean for him not to let it happen. Death, however, proceeds to restore Sam's soul to his body, with the latter screaming in pain.
Sam wakes up about a week later, with no apparent memory of Hell or even his year without a soul. He is emotional, sensitive, and full of life, much unlike "RoboSam". He questions Dean on a number of occasions, as to how he got back, and if he even tried to live a normal life.
After a while, Sam already starts to get familiar feelings of deja vu, as of when looking through John's Journal, he asks Dean if they had hunted a Skinwalker recently. When Dean and Bobby both keep it tight-lipped, Sam goes with the next best bet: he prays to Castiel, who fills in the blanks of his year being soulless.
Sam apologizes to Dean.
After getting rid of a couple of Dragons, Sam apologizes to Dean about all he's done to him, feels guilty and expresses a will to set things right. He is apparently not angry, but grateful towards Dean trying to protect him. However, he wants to know what he did while he was soulless. Dean doesn't divulge any details, knowing the risk of the "Great Wall of Sam" crumbling.
Sometime later, Sam tries to catch up on the year he was "gone". He then gets a mysterious text from an unknown number, giving coordinates to a small town. Sam tracks the number to Bristol, Rhode Island. He also finds out that three women disappeared there in the last week, vanishing out of thin air. Sam suggests they check out what's going on over there, and Dean reluctantly agrees.
A photograph of Sam and Samuel in the background of a bar.
Upon arriving in Bristol, Sam already begins to have flashbacks of his time there a year ago. He recognizes the sign of Bristol when they're driving in, and he meets up with someone who happens to know him in a bar. When Sam starts to have suspicions of the place, Dean confirms them with a photograph he finds with Sam in the background. Dean plans on leaving the town as soon as possible, but Sam insists on staying to figure out what happened, and what's going on now. He takes responsibility for the missing people in the town, and wants to finish what he started.
Dean agrees to continue, following up with affiliates of the missing women for any clues to what might be going on. He finds out from one that she had some "loud and athletic" interactions with Sam a year ago. Meanwhile, Sam arrives at the police station only to be abruptly arrested by the same cop he knocked out a year ago.
Sheriff Brennan releases Sam out of jail.
Sam tries to convince the cop that he doesn't remember anything, but the cop doesn't believe him and locks him up in jail. Sometime later, another sheriff named Brenna Dobbs walks in, apparently knowing his true identity as Sam, and questions him on what happened to her husband, Roy. Sam doesn't remember her at first, but has another flashback of Samuel and himself talking with the two about hunting. He tells her he doesn't know what happened, but he will find answers because that's his job. After some convincing, she lets him out his cell.
Dean returns home to Sam, now a fugitive, and tells him that he actually got arround being soulless, and that he knew one of the missing girls. Suddenly, on a police scanner, the two hear of another disappearance. Dean orders Sam to stay put while he checks out the scene. As Dean walks out the door, Sam makes his way to Sheriff Brenna's house.
Samuel and Sam a year ago, conversing with the sheriffs.
Sam asks Brenna for the files on the missing men from a year ago. He has a few flashbacks, including one of him and Samuel talking with Roy and Debra about family and being on the road. Samuel expresses a sentimental sense of joy and blessing when reminiscing about Mary, but Sam looks at his relationship with Samuel as nothing more than a business relationship, and that "family slows you down". Another flashback confirms that the cause of the disappearances of the men were from a creature called an Arachne. He borrows the evidence to put the pieces all together, and runs into Dean, who suggests once again to leave this for another hunter. Sam is still persistent on finishing what he's started.
Sam shoots all of the poisoned men.
As the pieces come together, Sam gets a full flashback that fills in the blanks on what happened: the abductions the Arachne made were all of men fitting a certain profile, and used Roy as live bait to track down the Arachne. Upon finding the Arachne's lair, Sam and Samuel face off with the creature, and Sam decapitates it. Samuel suggests calling an ambulance for Roy and the others, but Sam suggests it can't be helped. He believes that all the men are poisoned, that they're dead men walking, and he suggests to put them out of their misery by killing them. He shoots all of the innocent men, and tells Samuel to get the gasoline to burn the house down.
Upon this realization, Sam calls Brenna to check if she's okay. She asks for him to stop by, and Sam senses that she's in trouble. The brothers arrive and upon entering the shed, they find Brenna. She asks Sam if it was true that he killed Roy. Before he can answer, Dean is attacked and Sam is pinned to the wall by Roy, now an Arachne.
Sam and Dean look on a decapitated Roy.
Roy, suddenly angry, tells Sam he got a lot of his assumptions wrong. He explained the Arachne wasn't there to feed, but rather to breed. She bit him and all the others to turn them into Arachne. By the time Sam shot him, he was already turned. He was resistant to both bullets and fire. After the fire, all the Arachne ran. Ever since then, Roy kept himself hidden for months, waiting for Sam to return to exact revenge on him. He tells Sam that all of the missing women are now Arachne as well. However, he questions whether to kill Sam or turn him. In this moment of hesitation, Dean breaks out his cobweb to attack as Brenna cuts the cobwebs off of Sam. Sam then strikes and decapitates Roy. He tries to apologize to Brenna, but she shuts the door on him.
Sam's flashback of burning in Lucifer's Cage.
Sam and Dean pack up to leave, with Dean wondering if Sam's okay. Sam, now feeling guilty, agrees that they shouldn't have come back to Bristol. Dean tries to console him by telling him it wasn't really him, but Sam disagrees and states that in his flashbacks, he saw it clearly was him. As he wonders about what else he could've done, he collapses on the floor. Dean rushes to Sam, who gets a flashback of himself burning in Lucifer's Cage.
Powers
Sam exhibits both telekinetic and precognitive abilities at various times throughout the series. His telekinesis on screen is limited to a single incident wherein he was under extreme stress and pressure, while his precognitive abilities, manifesting as dreams and visions of others' deaths, started prior to the first episode with dreams of Jessica's death, and continued throughout the first two seasons. In the first season episode "Home", Sam demonstrated the ability to sense the presence of the poltergeist even after Missouri couldn't. Also, in "In My Time of Dying", Sam was able to sense Dean's spirit during a time of great stress. He is immune to a demon-spawned virus, called Croatoan, which turns humans violent and drives them to infect others. Sam stated that visions stopped with the death of Azazel at the end of Season 2; however, according to Ruby, his powers are simply dormant.
Sam and Ruby together again
Sam's powers are a result of being fed demon blood by Azazel, which he did to a number of children before his death. Ruby states that if he was in full control of his power, he could blow away demons as powerful as Lilith with no effort. As the series progresses, Sam learns to hone and develop these powers. In "No Rest For the Wicked", Sam demonstrates an immunity to Lilith's attack, and later confidently strides through Samhain's similar-looking attack. At the start of the fourth season, Sam has learned to use his powers to exorcise demons with the help of Ruby, who is occupying a new host. During "Yellow Fever", Sam's eyes briefly flash yellow, like Azazel's; whether or not this is a product of Dean's imagination after his frightening experience is never revealed. In "Death Takes a Holiday", Sam is shown to have grown more powerful, resisting Alastair's attempt to telekinetically "fling" him when he had previously been unable to. He then uses his powers to pin Alastair to a tree and exorcise him, another feat he had been unable to accomplish before. In "On the Head of a Pin", it is revealed that these "boosts" in his abilities are a result of drinking Ruby's demon blood. After the latest drink, Sam's powers are increased to the point where he can kill demons outright, as opposed to simply exorcising them. The same light flickers under their skin as if killed with the Colt or the knife. He is also able to "grip" demons with his powers, causing them pain and forcing them to tell the truth.
Death
Through the course of the series, Sam has died once and has been resurrected by the Crossroads Demon. Dean paid the ultimate price with his soul, only to be brought back from hell by self-proclaimed Angel, Castiel. His resurrection seems to have been the catalyst for Sam's increasingly cold nature and it has been insinuated by Azazel that when he was resurrected, he did not come back "100% pure Sam".
Sam, struck by lightning and briefly died in "Wishful Thinking" when Hope wished him dead. However, this was quickly reversed.
During the episode "The Song Remains the Same", Sam was killed by Anna to prevent him saying yes to Lucifer. Michael brought him back however. Both Sam and Dean died in the episode, "Dark Side of the Moon" but were resurrected by Joshua.
During the Season 5 finale, Swan Song, Sam sacrificed both himself and Michael by leaping into Lucifer's cage during the showdown in Stull Cemetery. He went briefly to Hell but appeared at the end of the episode, staring at Dean's new family having dinner. He also appears in season 6.
Notable episodes
Season 1
- "Pilot"
- "Bloody Mary"
- "Home"
- "Asylum"
- "Nightmare"
- "Provenance""
- "Salvation"
Season 2
- "Simon Said"
- "Croatoan"
- "Hunted"
- "Playthings"
- "Houses of the Holy"
- "Born Under a Bad Sign"
- "Heart"
- "All Hell Breaks Loose - Part 1"
- "All Hell Breaks Loose - Part 2"
Season 3
Season 4
- "Metamorphosis"
- "It's the Great Pumpkin, Sam Winchester"
- "I Know What You Did Last Summer"
- "Heaven and Hell"
Season 5
- "Free to Be You and Me"
- "I Believe the Children Are Our Future"
- "My Bloody Valentine"
- "Dark Side of the Moon"
- "The Devil You Know"
- "Swan Song"