Supernatural may have ran for an impressive fifteen seasons, however, the Winchesters never truly found solid love interests, and for good reason.
While Sam and Dean Winchester had many short-lived romances over the course of fifteen seasons, the Supernatural protagonists were always doomed when it came to love, and it was most likely because their lives and their sibling relationship got in the way. Supernatural is a paranormal mystery series that follows the Winchester brothers as they continue their family business: hunting demons. Over many years, Sam and Dean take down countless monsters and risk their lives to save the world over and over again.
Although the main storylines of Supernatural mostly focused on the apocalypse and the Winchesters’ next big bad villain, there were various subplots throughout the series where the brothers fell in love- sort of. For the most part, Sam and Dean never have real, loving partners. Sam began the series with Jess, a woman who seemed to understand him despite knowing nothing of his past, while Dean was something of a lone wolf and a player, jumping from woman to woman. All in all, Sam and Dean’s romantic partners in Supernatural were plentiful, both in human and supernatural form, but there’s a reason why none of them stuck.
Sam & Dean’s Best Supernatural Relationships Came When The Other Brother Died
Unfortunately, Supernatural proves that Sam and Dean’s best romantic relationships came when the other brother was dead or missing from their lives. For example, the end of Supernatural sees Sam moving on with his life after Dean’s death, eventually marrying for good and having a child. Without Dean and their hunting missions, Sam had the freedom to truly fall in love. A similar scenario occurred in season 6 with Dean. When Sam is presumed dead, locked in Lucifer’s Cage, Dean spends his days with Lisa and Ben. Though Sam eventually returns, it’s interesting that Dean’s first instinct after Sam’s death is to find solace in Lisa.
This same concept even occurs when the brothers are out of each other’s lives. At the start of the series, Sam has been estranged from Dean and his father to attend college, and while there, he begins his relationship with Jess. The remainder of the relationships present on Supernatural are incredibly short-lived and usually run on pure passion rather than any true emotional connection. At a certain point, the Winchesters must put their lovers to the side to focus on each other and their goals. In this way, the brothers get in each other’s way romantically throughout the series.
Sam & Dean’s Family Bond Left No Room For Romantic Relationships
The reason why Sam and Dean can only form meaningful romantic relationships with the other gone is that their brotherly bond is too overpowering for anyone else to fit. Supernatural often emphasizes family, and while the Winchesters frequently bring new people into their family like Castiel or Jack, any sort of romantic relationship within that family would shift the dynamic in a bad way. Sam and Dean must constantly be looking out for each other and they both know that if a romantic partner were to take the focus away from that, the result would be incredibly bad.
The show stuck very close to this concept by never allowing a romantic partner to get too close to the Winchesters. Though they could bond or share tender moments, inevitably the brothers would have to leave or dynamics would change, making a love interest an enemy. In this way, the Winchesters were only distracted for a brief time before returning to each other in full force. This made them stronger together, though arguably it weakened their personal development.
Supernatural Would Have Killed Any Serious Winchester Love Interest Anyway
Even if Sam or Dean did try to bring a romantic interest into their lives, the show would never let them last that long. Supernatural is notorious for killing every single one of its characters, including Sam and Dean. That means that in a hypothetical world where a Winchester brother committed to a romantic relationship, that character would have quickly been killed and used as emotional fodder for the brothers. Killing the Winchesters friends like Kevin and Charlie was bad enough; killing their lover would have been another level of pain.
Although it’s disappointing that the Winchesters never had true, long-term love interests on-screen, it is probably better that they didn’t. Supernatural included plenty of drama without bringing romantic issues into the mix, and if anything, the lack of romance cemented Sam and Dean’s familial love for each other. That being said, Supernatural didn’t ignore romance completely, and some of the best storylines were those that included demonic, strong-willed women that the Winchesters had to let loose, protect, or kill.
