Like I said, I don't want any hateful comments or anything please, just a debate without insult please.

But seriously, every time Sam has these flashbacks, I just roll my eyes and wait for it to end, I don't find them interesting and I don't think they're really needed (well so far).... anyways, what do you think?

I agree. These flashbacks are making Sam really annoying, which totally sucks because he's my favorite character. I know that every time they show Sam, there's most likely a flashback involved, so I just keep hoping that they show Dean and Cass, haha.

LOL, that's exactly how I feel too, when they're making a kinda-close-up on Sam, I'm like '*sigh* Oh no, another one' haha

Haha! It almost seems like they're making fun of flashbacks because they're just so freaking cheesy, but I don't know... They aren't going anywhere and they have nothing to do with what is going on in the "present." Hopefully, there will be some sort of Shyamalan twist at the end of them, but I doubt it.

Should get more interesting now that Amelia's hubby is back in the picture...

^yeah, well I hope so :)

I totally agree with you, Bibi. I yawn my way through Sam's flashbacks. Even with Amelia's husband coming back, honestly I could care less.

I love Sam but I admit I've had trouble empathizing with him in the past. However the writers have always managed to make his motives and emotions clear and in the end make me love him. At the beginning of the season, I fully expected his flashbacks to help me sympathize with his decision to quit hunting and not look for Dean or try to help Kevin Tran. But I feel as though the flashbacks have done the exact opposite. They have made me feel less sympathetic and haven't convinced me of Sam's motives or emotions at all. He just doesn't seem that traumatized in them. He doesn't seem broken up or very emotional at all. And yeah that can be explained by him shutting down to protect himself but it just doesn't feel real to me. There's been a lot of focus on developing Amelia's character- and I understand that we're supposed to relate Sam's emotional trauma to her emotional trauma but I'm sorry, they just aren't that comparable. Plus, I don't want to watch Amelia emote about her dead husband. I want to see Sam emote about his missing brother. I don't want to be told that Sam's been going through a rough time without Dean- I want to see it. Dean's flashbacks were full of emotion and intensity- they furthered his character development. Sam's flashbacks are like watching someone sleepwalk. And maybe that's what the writers are trying to get across- that Sam just shut down emotionally. But because he formed a relationship with Amelia, it doesn't really come across that way. Plus, it's flat out boring.

I don't usually blame 'bad writing' for things that upset me in the show but the more they drag out these vapid flashbacks, the more I have to wonder if the writers know what they're doing. Because what they're doing is making me not like Sam. And I don't want to not like Sam.

Here's what I'm hoping the writers are doing: Amelia isn't real. Either all of Sam's flashbacks are implanted memories or Amelia is a demon or an angel sent to distract Sam. Because if Sam's flashbacks are nothing more than face value- I can't sympathize with him. I've seen nothing that makes me want to give him a hug and tell him everything will be ok. All I've seen is a guy who turned his back on his brother and the world- which would be fine- if I could actually see the emotions that caused him to do so. As it is, I just see mild grief and a reversion to his old 'I just want to be normal' mentality. Which I thought he was over. As much as I can understand that desire, I have a hard time sympathizing with it when it comes at the expense of others. His brother's for one. And Kevin Tran's secondly.

Of course there's the comparison to Dean taking a year off at the end of S5. However, the situations were different. Sam was for sure gone, Dean knew exactly where he was. Yet he still tried to save him. Sam didn't even bother to find out where his brother was, much less save him. Dean had no other immediate responsibilities, no other immediate crises, no one else depending on him. Sam watched Crowley kidnap Kevin and did nothing to try to help him nor did he concern himself at all with the potential evil Crowley could accomplish with Kevin in his possession. We're talking global evil here. But the truth is, even with these things, I probably could have sympathized with Sam if the writers had handled it differently. If I could have seen his emotional breakdown, seen how tramautized he was, I'd feel for him.

And wow- I didn't mean to go on a full rant here.

^WOW, ff, I think you pretty much described how I feel about that situation :O, but I'm not that good at expressing myself for one, and to do it in English is harder for me LOL, but that's exactly what I'm thinking, and I'm also glad to see that I'm not the only one who thinks so :)

Not necessarily LOVE them, but I like them. Especially in the last 2 episodes. After this past episode I've decided Amelia is the first person I ship Sam with since Ruby.

I think the majority thinks they're boring.

i just wait for it to end