I found Dean very sympathetic and intriguing in s6. Actually, in a sort of long s6 that ran through 7.3. I began to have a harder time with his character right at 7.4 to 7.5, when the confrontation with his guilt went nowhere except lol Lindbergh baby -- I really wanted it to be a Dean changing point, like 5.4 or 7.18, and it really wasn't. Nor was the Mentalists, another possible turning point. I don't think he was necessarily wrong in his decision to kill Amy, but when it came to the lying to Sam and family does the dirty work, Dean seemed to think that what he needed to do was feel bad about it and let Sam know he'd felt bad about it, rather than recognize a pattern of behavior and change it.
But one of the most frustrating things about s7 Dean for me is that I did see some elements of genuine hope in the latter half of the season, especially with Krissy and in Plucky's, where he seemed to be looking back at his and Sam's past with a more balanced eye and a kind of fellow-feeling with both who he had been and who Sam had been. I can't help thinking that if the writers had taken the elements they had with Dean and arranged them in a pattern, and then brought it to a head at the end of the season, it could have worked. There were actually paths for Dean to grow, it was just like the writers would take one step down them and then stop.
Re: Extended TV Guide spoilers
I found Dean very sympathetic and intriguing in s6. Actually, in a sort of long s6 that ran through 7.3. I began to have a harder time with his character right at 7.4 to 7.5, when the confrontation with his guilt went nowhere except lol Lindbergh baby -- I really wanted it to be a Dean changing point, like 5.4 or 7.18, and it really wasn't. Nor was the Mentalists, another possible turning point. I don't think he was necessarily wrong in his decision to kill Amy, but when it came to the lying to Sam and family does the dirty work, Dean seemed to think that what he needed to do was feel bad about it and let Sam know he'd felt bad about it, rather than recognize a pattern of behavior and change it.
But one of the most frustrating things about s7 Dean for me is that I did see some elements of genuine hope in the latter half of the season, especially with Krissy and in Plucky's, where he seemed to be looking back at his and Sam's past with a more balanced eye and a kind of fellow-feeling with both who he had been and who Sam had been. I can't help thinking that if the writers had taken the elements they had with Dean and arranged them in a pattern, and then brought it to a head at the end of the season, it could have worked. There were actually paths for Dean to grow, it was just like the writers would take one step down them and then stop.