Went on about this more on Tumblr (https://idontneedasymbol.tumblr.com/post/170309284854/angst-hot-potato)...but hmm, I hate to say it, but your list up there actually made me feel more frustrated with the current arc. In all the above examples, it makes sense why Sam has a drastically different reaction to the events than Dean -- his experiences of them are drastically different. But in this case, as in the beginning of the season, both Sam and Dean have been through the same stuff, the same losses. Some of the people they've lost are arguably closer to one of them or the other, but they've both been friends/family with everyone lost. They both were stuck in the Bad Place together, etc.

And yes, they're very different people, so it makes sense that they have different reactions to things. But now it's feeling kind of like they have the same reactions, just...differently timed? At the beginning of the season, Dean was sunk into deep depression, while Sam barely seemed to be grieving at all. Now Sam is depressed and Dean is in a good mood, and I don't quite get why -- why has Sam seemingly given up on Jack and Mary, when he was so sure Mary could be saved before and they have more evidence now that they're alive? Why is Dean optimistic when he couldn't be before? It's like 'hope' is a talisman that only one Winchester is allowed to carry at a time...