I've had this impression as well. It's stronger for me in terms of Dean's characterization but I feel it with Sam's also. Dean's depression in S4 and S5 felt much more about his time in Hell and the weight of having broken the first seal and being unable to save the world (plus issues with Sam).
The switch in S6 to associate hunting with being a monster was something I really disagreed with, tbh. It didn't seem to fit given the rest of Dean's characterization and how Dean had, before that point, viewed hunting as something that would allow him to save people. And while his concept of self worth hasn't ever been that great, it's never been hunting he's associated as the thing dragging him down. It's always been himself. What he, Dean Winchester, is capable of doing. When he talks about that in Devil's Trap, it's not "I'm worried about what I get like when I'm on the hunt" but "The things I'd do or kill for you and Dad scare me." It's his willingness to take drastic, even damning measures for his family that concerns him, not hunting.
So I'm actually glad to see them back away from that. I just wish it could have been done in a manner that didn't also seem to completely dismiss what Gamble had introduced.
Re: Jensen video interview--spoilers
I've had this impression as well. It's stronger for me in terms of Dean's characterization but I feel it with Sam's also. Dean's depression in S4 and S5 felt much more about his time in Hell and the weight of having broken the first seal and being unable to save the world (plus issues with Sam).
The switch in S6 to associate hunting with being a monster was something I really disagreed with, tbh. It didn't seem to fit given the rest of Dean's characterization and how Dean had, before that point, viewed hunting as something that would allow him to save people. And while his concept of self worth hasn't ever been that great, it's never been hunting he's associated as the thing dragging him down. It's always been himself. What he, Dean Winchester, is capable of doing. When he talks about that in Devil's Trap, it's not "I'm worried about what I get like when I'm on the hunt" but "The things I'd do or kill for you and Dad scare me." It's his willingness to take drastic, even damning measures for his family that concerns him, not hunting.
So I'm actually glad to see them back away from that. I just wish it could have been done in a manner that didn't also seem to completely dismiss what Gamble had introduced.