nerdylittleshit:

So, a little while ago I rewatched 8×06 and noticed something. Right after the teaser this episode starts with Sam and Dean discussing Benny, or rather why Dean didn’t kill Benny, despite knowning that he is a vampire.

SAM: But you’re out now [of purgatory], and Benny’s still breathing. Why?

DEAN: He’s my friend, Sam.

SAM: And what about my friend, Amy? She was what? ‘Cause you sure as hell didn’t have a problem ganking her.

[…]

DEAN: Look, Benny slips up and some other hunter turns his lights out, so be it.

SAM: But it’s not gonna be you, right?

It is interesting that Sam brings up Amy of all people. Amy of course is the Kitsune Dean killed in 7×03. She was also Sam’s first love. It’s a neat little parallel, because back in 7×07, after Sam found out about it, we had the following exchange:

SAM:[…] Look, I’ll work this damn case, but you lied to me, and you killed my friend.

DEAN: No, I put down a monster who killed four people, and if you didn’t know her, you’d have done the same thing.

SAM: I did know her, Dean.

DEAN: Yeah, which is why you couldn’t do it.

DEAN: Look, I get it. There are certain people in this world, no matter how dangerous they are, you just can’t.

Both Dean and Sam refer to the respective monster as their friend. But we know that Sam and Amy were once more than just friends. And while this on the surface could imply that Dean had romantic feelings for Benny, it doesn’t work out. Why? Because of Cas of course.

Back in 7×07 it is Dean who brings up Cas, who associates him with Amy, and indirectly tells Sam that he is the reason he killed Amy.

DEAN: I went with my gut. And that felt right. I didn’t trust her, Sam. Of
course, ever since Cas, I’m having a hard time trusting anybody.

Dean killed Amy because he couldn’t kill Cas back in 7×01. He even said so himself, there are certain people where you just can’t. His judgement for Cas was clouded. Back in 6×20 he was the one defending Cas towards Sam and Bobby. And even after everything Cas had done for the brief moment in 7×01 when Cas was back from the dead and before the Leviathan took over it looked like Dean was able to forgive him (very very slowly of course).

The parallel of 7×03 only worked in relation to Dean and Cas, implying that if Sam’s judgement was clouded because of his romantic feelings towards Amy that might be true for Dean in relation to Cas as well.

So why doesn’t it work out for Benny and Dean as well? Because prior to the argument between Sam and Dean in 8×06 we saw an exchange between Dean and Benny in 8×05. Benny asked Dean why he saved him, why he resurrected him. Dean doesn’t give him a straight answer, but what follows is a flashback to purgatory, where we see how Benny saved Cas from a Leviathan attack. It marks the moment Dean started to trust Benny, the moment he began to see him as a friend and someone worth saving. And all because of Cas.

Dean killed Amy because of Cas, for making up for his own mistake of not being able to kill Cas when he should have. And Dean spared Benny because of Cas, because Benny had saved him.