(Season 15 Spoilers)
When we were first introduced to the awesome character that is Eileen Leahy, it seemed like her and Sam had a lot in common. Both of their mothers were killed by a monster while they were babies in their cribs (for Eileen it was both her parents), both were raised to be hunters, and both had plans to go to law school, but then stuck with hunting. It was definitely their shared life experiences that first connected them. But, as we watched her character progress, I noticed how much Eileen and Dean were so alike.
When we first meet Eileen, she reads Dean’s lips about “feeding time” and assumes him and Sam are the wraiths, especially considering how much they were snooping around the retirement home. As a skilled hunter, Eileen immediately sets a trap for Sam. However, she does this without waiting to see more, and without even testing him. In fact, she doesn't even hesitate to go for the kill without even knowing for sure and if Sam hadn't done some quick thinking, he would've been a goner.
This isn't to say that Eileen is not a smart hunter; her assumptions of the Winchesters identities are reasonable. But she is so very reckless and driven for revenge that she doesn't stop to reconsider. There are definitely many moments throughout the show where Dean does something like this, but the one to stand out in my mind is when he first meets Cas, the one whom he knows got him out of hell, and, without waiting to know more, stabs him on sight.
This has always been the clash between Dean and Sam- Dean's recklessness in wanting to immediately kill what they assume to be a monster and Sam making them stop to consider the consequences of their actions (which, sometimes, in it of itself produces consequences). They balance each other out, just like the relationship between Sam and Eileen (after they get over the whole "sorry I almost killed you" thing)
Eileen and Dean both have this brashness and bluntness to their words. They don't insinuate or beat around the bush when it comes to threats. If they tell you that they're going to kill you if you don't do what they say, you better listen because they will absolutely follow through, unless given a reason not to.
Bonus points: both of the above threats are about protecting Sam. Look at the intensity in both their faces, the very clear statements, and the immediate violence. In this particular scene with Eileen, after she threatens Sergei with a well-deserved choke hold, Cas calmly reveals his plan to kill Sergei's daughter if he doesn't cooperate. It's an even more intense threat than "fix him or I kill you", yet Cas has a much cooler head about it. Both Sam and Cas tend to think out how they want to play an enemy, whereas Eileen and Dean's first instinct is to act on emotion- making them seem a lot scarier at times.
Dean and Eileen's bluntness also lends to their type of sass. It's very to the point. There's an arrogant tone to their words, not having or needing time to bother with someone they find obnoxious or see as an enemy.
As we all know, Sam is all about the deep talks. If something is wrong, he wants to talk about it. As we also all know, Dean is very much the opposite. He's a very emotionally driven person, but that doesn't mean he likes to talk about said emotions. In the two instances where Dean and Eileen each come back from hell, Sam tries to get them to talk about it:
...and they both shut him down. In the first conversation, Sam hasn't been to Hell yet. But in the second, he has. Pre-hell and post-hell, he still believes talking about it helps. Yet, both Dean and Eileen push away the thought of talking about their trauma. And who can blame them?
If we had more of a chance to see Eileen's relationship with the Winchesters develop, I strongly believe we would see more of hers and Dean's similarities. I would imagine they would become BFFs making Sam think "oh no there's two of them". And who knows! Maybe we will still have that chance.
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