They're Brothers

These are the occasions Sam and Dean Winchester have been mistaken for a couple, or have been referred to as and paralleled with couples.

Episodes

1.08 Bugs

While investigating a death in the Oasis Plains community, Sam and Dean meet Larry Pike at a barbecue, who tells them they accept all homeowners regardless of race, religion, color, or sexual orientation. An embarrassed Larry is corrected by Dean that they are in fact brothers.

Inside the barbecue Sam and Dean meet Lynda Bloome, who tells them the same thing Larry did. Dean excuses himself with a slight chuckle, calling a surprised Sam "honey" and smacking him on the rear before leaving.

1.18 Something Wicked

While getting a room at the Court Motel in Fitchburg, Wisonsin, Dean tells the young clerk, Michael, he wants two queens. Michael, seeing Sam waiting outside, snickers and under his breath says "I'll bet."

2.11 Playthings

Checking in at the Pierpont Inn under the guise of antiquing, Susan Thompson tells Sam and Dean they "look the type" and asks if they want a king-size bed. Embarrassed, Sam quickly tells Susan they are just brothers and want two singles, while a confused Dean asks what she meant when she said they "look the type." Sherwin then asks them if they're antiquers. Later, Dean asks Sam why people always assume they are gay and Sam responds that Dean is kinda butch and that they probably think he's overcompensating.

2.12 Nightshifter

Victor Henriksen compares Sam and Dean to real-life couple Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, Dean agrees.

2.15 Tall Tales

After being brought in to help on a case, Bobby tells Sam and Dean that they are bickering like an "old married couple."

2.16 Roadkill

Molly McNamara says the only time her and her husband fought was when they were stuck in a car. Sam says he knows how that goes, causing Dean to scowl at his answer.

3.08 A Very Supernatural Christmas

When Sam and Dean enter Santa's Village, they are greeted by an Elf who asks if she can escort their child to Santa. Sam becomes flummoxed, while Dean tells the woman that they are brothers and it is Sam's dream to meet Santa, eliciting a disgusted look from the employee when Sam tells her they are just there to watch.

In a twist, Dean plays up to the fact that a shopkeeper assumes they are a couple, and has Sam ask about a Christmas wreath they saw at the Walsh's home while playing Jenga, prompting Sam to say the wreath was "yummy."

3.15 Time Is on My Side

Dean tells Sam his proposition for them to live forever is too reminiscent of real-life couple Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen.

4.01 Lazarus Rising

After reuniting with Sam at his motel, Ruby asks if they are "together", a still-shocked Sam tells her that Dean is his brother.

4.17 It's a Terrible Life

In the alternate reality created by Zachariah, Dean Smith thinks that Sam Wesson was trying to hit on him when Sam approached him during an elevator ride.

4.18 The Monster at the End of This Book

After learning about the existence of the Supernatural books, Sam and Dean learn that there are fans, some of whom ship Sam and Dean together. When Dean asks if they realize they are brothers, Sam tells him it "doesn't seem to matter."

5.01 Sympathy for the Devil

Becky Rosen is shown writing Wincest fan fiction on her computer. She tells Chuck Shurley she is webmistress for the website morethanbrothers.net.

5.09 The Real Ghostbusters

The Supernatural con manger announces a panel about the "Homoerotic subtext of Supernatural". A gay couple, Demian and Barnes, cosplays as Sam and Dean.

5.13 The Song Remains the Same

Upon learning Anna is planning to kill Sam to prevent Lucifer from having his destined vessel, Dean compares her to Glenn Close's character from Fatal Attraction.

5.14 My Bloody Valentine

Dean jokingly asks Sam to be his Valentine.

5.18 Point of No Return

To convince Adam Milligan to join Heaven's side, Zachariah refers to Sam and Dean as "psychotically, irrationally, erotically codependent on each other."

6.06 You Can't Handle the Truth

Veritas compares Sam and Dean to spouses Mickey and Mallory Knox from the movie Natural Born Killers.

6.14 Mannequin 3: The Reckoning

Dean once again jokingly asks Sam to be his Valentine.

8.04 Bitten

Michael Wheeler and Brian Wilcox secretly film Sam and Dean who are investigating a case as FBI agents. Michael tells Brian he is getting a workplace romance vibe from Sam and Dean and later Brian tells him of their stakeout at a diner, and how they talked about being apart for a year, which he feels confirmed that they were right about the romance.

8.20 Pac-Man Fever

While witnessing an argument between Sam and Dean, Charlie Bradbury tells them that they fight like an "old married couple."

9.13 The Purge

Alonso yells at Dean to stop flirting with the trainer (Sam) and get back to work.

9.17 Mother's Little Helper

After Dean lies to Sam abouts his whereabouts, Crowley remarks that he is lying to Sam like Sam is Dean's wife, which would make Crowely Dean's mistress.

10.03 Soul Survivor

After being cured by Sam from being a demon, Dean asks Castiel if Sam wants a "divorce" after he had tried to kill him.

10.05 Fan Fiction

When Dean sees Siobhan and Maggie standing close to each other, he asks Marie what they are doing. She tells him they are rehearsing a "brotherly moment" scene, and begins to describe how Sam and Dean are bonded, which leads Dean to question why they are so close together. Marie simply tells him "reasons," which prompts Dean to ask if she realizes they are brothers with Marie telling him, "Well, duh! But... Subtext."

Trivia

While talking about 1.11 Scarecrow on the 11th episode of the Supernatural: Then and Now podcast, Robert Singer said that Sam and Dean's fight and subsequent separation was, "a good dramatic thing. We went to that classic love story "boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back ". You know, it was that."
In 4.14 Sex and Violence, Dr. Cara Roberts tells Sam, "Haven't you ever been in a relationship where you really love somebody and still kinda wanted to bash their head in?" Sam chuckles at that. In the Casting side for Dr. Cara Roberts it is written that Sam is considering what she said while probably thinking about Dean.
In 5.09 The Real Ghostbusters, the Supernatural con manger announces a panel about the "Homoerotic subtext of Supernatural". In an interview at Comic-Con 2013 for his show Revolution, Eric Kripke said that he has "a thematic, which is tight relationships between friends, who are brothers, with an unstated homoerotic subtext. Why is that my deal? Frankly I need a little therapy time to realize why I keep going back to that issue." In a deleted scene from the episode, Chuck Shurley tells his fans he doesn't want to read their Wincest fan fiction.
In 6.22 The Man Who Knew Too Much, Balthazar tells Dean, who's looking after an unconscious Sam, "How’s Sleeping Beauty? You didn’t steal any kisses I trust?" Sleeping Beauty is a fairytale character who is awakened from a hundred years sleep by a prince's kiss.
In 8.08 Hunteri Heroici, Castiel tells Sam and Dean he can be their "third wheel". A third wheel is an idiom referring to "someone who is not wanted or needed in a situation, especially someone who is present with two other people who are in a romantic relationship."
In 8.23 Sacrifice, Crowley sees Sam and Dean fighting and asks if they're having "trouble in paradise". Trouble in paradise is an idiom referring to an "unexpected problem in a supposedly positive situation, especially in a marital or romantic relationship".
In 11.08 Just My Imagination, Dean comments on the clothes he and Sam are wearing saying, "it's the Bert and Ernie pretext". Dean had previously told Castiel he was absolutely certain that Bert and Ernie were gay in 5.03 Free to Be You and Me which was later confirmed in 2018 by Sesame Street writer Mark Saltzman.
In the script for 11.17 Red Meat, the stage directions for Michelle Tilghman and Dean's final scene where she tells him she watched the man she loved die, has Dean realizing he went through the same ordeal with Sam when he thought he died.
In 14.13 Lebanon, the Winchesters are well known in the town and go by the aliases Sam and Dean Campbell. While Campbell is Mary Winchester’s family name, in 7.07 The Mentalists Sam and Dean learn of the Campbell brothers, seen in a photograph, who specialized in paintings and writings said to be produced by spirits. They were Allen Campbell and Charles Shrouds and were actually a gay couple who posed as brothers.

External links

Mistaken for Gay on TV Tropes
Relative Error on TV Tropes