Dean met Benny in Purgatory where they worked together (and with Castiel) in order to escape and enter back into the world. Benny was an unlikely ally for Dean since he was a vampire. Initially, Dean didn’t trust Benny. Purgatory united them, and they became close friends. Benny was someone whom Dean could trust. It was a friendship that Sam didn’t understand and felt threatened by.
However, Sam didn’t need to feel threatened for long because Benny quickly disappeared from the narrative. Dean’s friendship with Benny presented an interesting story, but unfortunately the character of Benny didn’t stand up to his initial potential.
Doesn’t Call Dean Out
When he and Dean first meet, Benny is strong and doesn’t suffer fools. This connects him to Dean, and he is the type of character to call it like it is. Once he’s back on earth, he loses some of his straightforward swagger. He’s having a hard time adapting, which makes sense since he had been in Purgatory longer than Dean, and he calls Dean to talk. Out of everyone, Dean is the one person who would understand what he’s going through.
Dean stops their conversations because Sam doesn’t like their friendship. Benny was accommodating, when really he should have called Dean out for not being a good friend and for not standing up to Sam.
Gives Up On His Epic Love
The reason why Benny lost his vampire-life is because of a human-love, Andrea. She and their relationship changed him, and he saw the world differently. He mourns her, waiting to seek revenge for her death. However, she wasn’t killed, but rather turned into a vampire by his maker.
When he sees her again and learns that she’s the second-in-command to his maker, he gives up on her and their love. Yet, this was the same vampire who fought to get out of Purgatory, who told Dean how this love for Andrea made him better. Yet, he easily gave up on her, writing her off quickly.
Isn’t Resourceful and Doesn’t Bond With Many
Benny resists his vampire-nature, but it’s hard. Unlike the vampire Lenore, who was part of a group of vampires that swore off human blood, Benny doesn’t have support. Benny is a loner. Whereas he was really resourceful in Purgatory by learning the environment and making unlikely friends, he isn’t back on earth. The skills that helped him survive Purgatory seem to be relatively nonexistent once he’s back. Purgatory-Benny would have found allies, people or vampires that had a common mission. The Benny that returns seems a watered-down version.
Loses His Purpose
A big motivation that helped Benny get through Purgatory was his desire for revenge. He wanted to kill his maker. His revenge proves bittersweet. While he gets revenge on his maker, his maker still provides the ultimate twist by transforming Benny’s true love into a vampire and by making her both lover and second-in-command. This breaks Benny more.
Still, he does get his revenge. But what next? What purpose does he have? Unfortunately, Benny never really finds this out.
Doesn’t Give His Descendant A Chance to Accept Him
Benny finds a little relief when he meets his descendant, Elizabeth, back home. He doesn’t tell her that he’s a vampire, but he works in her gumbo shack where they develop a friendship. Benny helps her as much as he can, and he tries to protect her. When a hunter tracks Benny and doesn’t believe that Benny isn’t a typical vampire, the hunter threatens Elizabeth in order to bring Benny to him. Then Elizabeth finds out that Benny is a vampire.
However, right after he deals with the hunter, Benny leaves. It’s clear from what Elizabeth said to Dean that she doesn’t blame Benny for his actions. And maybe if he stuck around a little longer to talk to her or kept in touch with her, Elizabeth would’ve accepted him.
Doesn’t Want to Live on Earth Anymore
For someone who worked so hard to get out of Purgatory, he easily gives up on living when back on earth. No doubt, being back was a challenge to get used to, especially when he found out about Andrea, his epic love. But Purgatory-Benny was strong, driven, and flexible.
Once back, he doesn’t really give himself a chance to find a purpose, and so he seems to float, rather that stride. He confesses that he would rather be back in Purgatory.
Makes Himself a Sacrificial Lamb/a Martyr for the Winchesters
Benny lets Dean “kill” him in order to go back to Purgatory and help Sam. At this point, Sam has showed Benny no love. Matter-of-fact, that hunter that went after Elizabeth and him had been sent by Sam. Still, when Dean asks, Benny jumps. He acts like Dean is doing him a favor, too. And when Sam and Bobby need to get out and are attacked, Benny stays back to save them.
Only when Benny is willing to sacrifice so much does Sam accept him. And Dean asks an impossible request of him, and expects Benny to accept. Benny gladly does.
Doesn’t Make It In Purgatory
The first time when Benny was in Purgatory, he did make it and escape it. He was a strong vampire that could easily take down other vampires. Benny could take down a group of vampires all at once. Additionally, he had survived for a long time in Purgatory.
However, during his second time there, he doesn’t make it. Dean thinks that Benny will be running Purgatory, but he learns that Benny had been killed long ago before Season 15. Most likely, he had been killed shortly after his return.
Has Little Patience For Re-adjusting
Benny is being back on earth, and he wants to be gone. He doesn’t feel like he’s meant for this world, that he can’t adjust to it. However, he doesn’t give himself time to readjust. For a character that was patient in the impossible situation of Purgatory, fans would think that he would give earth more of a chance. While he was overly patient with Dean, he wasn’t patient with his own re-adjustment. This led him to be so quick to give it all away, again.
Lives for Others
Benny doesn’t seem to have his own storyline. He is a permanent supporting character. When he was a vampire, he lived for his maker, and was a favorite. Then he met Andrea, his epic love, and she awakened a world in him. He wanted to live a better life for her. Then he met Elizabeth, and he wanted to make his descendant his purpose. In the end, he lived to help Dean and Sam, willing to live and to die for them as well.
Other side-characters had their own storylines, their own desires like Rowena and Crowley. But Benny stayed the character that was primarily supporting others.
