What's more, I think Sam's faith may be renewed. To know that the God he prayed to all that time has been watching him and forgave him, has to be a powerful thing.
You're right. This episode is about Dean losing faith in the few things he had left: that God could save them; that Sam loved him; that there was something better after death, not for him necessarily, but for everyone else. Now that he's seen heaven, seen that it is a lonely place where he'll be manipulated by angels for eternity, he's clearly lost faith that there's a better place for anyone.
For Sam, on the other hand, this is about learning that God has forgiven him.
This goes back to what you were saying about the differences between the insecurities for the two of them. For Dean, it's always been about comforting the people he loved--both his memories were about that--and in this episode he has concluded that all of his efforts are worthless. For Sam, it's about feeling like a freak, like a monster, and what he learned is that even what he's done can be forgiven.
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You're right. This episode is about Dean losing faith in the few things he had left: that God could save them; that Sam loved him; that there was something better after death, not for him necessarily, but for everyone else. Now that he's seen heaven, seen that it is a lonely place where he'll be manipulated by angels for eternity, he's clearly lost faith that there's a better place for anyone.
For Sam, on the other hand, this is about learning that God has forgiven him.
This goes back to what you were saying about the differences between the insecurities for the two of them. For Dean, it's always been about comforting the people he loved--both his memories were about that--and in this episode he has concluded that all of his efforts are worthless. For Sam, it's about feeling like a freak, like a monster, and what he learned is that even what he's done can be forgiven.
I just keep loving this show.