I'm really half and half on this. It's a hard decision. On one hand, yes, because even though he shows obvious signs of unhappiness, he really did like the regular life for awhile, like Mary. It was something that was hard for Sam to do, leaving him alone and letting him be 'happy', like Bobby said it's the best he's ever seen a hunter to be normal, and was really selfless. On the other hand, Dean didn't deserve to be in the dark that Sam was back the whole time, and hunting, and not telling Dean that he was back alone makes me a bit mad at Sam. But again, good intentions, but it's hard for me to choose.

It wasn't his choice to make..
Let him know you are alive and then let him decide, don't treat him like a child..I just hate lies and dishonesty!
I know he meant well,he and Bobby too, but it was just too damn harsh to keep something like that and as Dean said "I wanted my brother ALIVE!" instead of a new family.

I understand why he did it .. and his heart was in the right place but Dean deserved to know.

DEAN WOULD ALWAYS WANT TO KNOW IF SAMMY WAS ALIVE BECAUSE IF IT CAME DOWN TO IT DEAN WOULD CHOOSE SAM OVER LISA AND BEN BECAUSE SAMS HIS REAL FAMILY DEAN LOVES HIS BROTHER MORE THEN LIFE ITSELF HE PROVED THAT WHEN HE MADE THE DEAL WITH THE CROSSROADS DEMON SO THEY SHOULD HAVE TOLD HIM

I'm with brittlegirl. I'm torn on this one. Sam was caught in a no-win situation (yes, I'm still sticking up for Sam), and besides, Bobby did it, too, so it makes it not so bad.

Dean would want and pick his brother over any girl and kid espeically since the kid isn't his. I think that is the only reason why Dean didn't leave with Sam was kinda as punishment to Sam for not telling him he was alive and back this whole time

I understand the reasoning behind it....all dean has every wanted was a family that he could call his own, and the only thing that has kept him from that was hunting and his need 2 protect his family/world.

but was dean ever really out...he still kept all his hunting stuff, still couldnt leave that building alone when he thought he heard something. dean was still a hunter through and through. i honestly wouldnt be surprised if after a while dean might have started hunting again, at least around where he lived.

but i cant really take sam or bobbys side on this one....if i was dean i would want 2 know that my brother is alive, and i would feel so betrayed if the people who i thought where the only ones i could count on not to lie to be about something this big.

i aggree with ashley dean would have picked sam over lisa, and im sure sam knew this so that's why he didnt let dean know he was alive, and maybe it was a way 2 punish sam by not going, but i honestly think dean cares about lisa and ben and does want 2 stay 2 protect him. when the jinns drugged him up, his worst fear was lisa being killed and ben suffering the same fate as sam...so that tells me that there is more 2 him wanting 2 stay behind than wanting 2 punish sam.

No, I don't get why everyone was so intend on letting Dean have a normal life, I mean it was obvious he did want it but not at the cost of his brother. To Dean the normal life was more like a fantasy, he didn't need to have it, he was happy just hunting and if past seasons have made anything clear it's that no matter what Sam is still his top priority. I do believe he likes Lisa and the normal life but that life over having his brother back again? It's obvious which one he'd choose and I was surprised Sam didn't know that.

Sam should have told him right away just like Dean did in Lazarus Rising he went straight to a pay phone to get a hold of him but the phone was disconnected but he still found Sam within a day of getting out of his grave.

I'm with brittlegirl. I am so torn. I totally understand why Finn did it, but I also felt for Dean and wish he would have told him.

He was right and he was wrong. It's not black and white to me...all shades of grey.

Sam was right to want Dean to have a normal life, right to assume that if Dean knew he was alive he wouldn't seize this chance at normalcy. Right to want Dean to not have to struggle and sacrifice and bleed day in and day out. Right to try to give his brother something that he's never really had and desperately wanted. A family of his own was not just a casual desire Dean wanted, he's dropped countless clues that it's something he's thought about in depth for a long time. Sure, Sam's always taken priority but that's the whole issue isn't it? Dean's never had anyone in his life but John, Sam, Bobby and Castiel. Never had opportunity to form real relationships beyond that very small circle. [unlike John, Sam and Bobby]. He deserved the chance to include other people in his life. And Dean was healing, he was getting better- with the help of Lisa and Ben.

Sam was wrong to assume that Dean would never find out about him, wrong to assume that Dean's past wouldn't catch up to him and therefore endanger Lisa and Ben. Wrong to treat him like a child [like Dean's treated him before] and keep knowledge from him that could have relieved his suffering. He was wrong to think that he didn't need Dean to continue hunting and maintain his humanity.

But I also have to say that if their positions were reversed...I do believe that Dean would have done exactly the same thing that Sam did. If he's the one who made Sam promise to live a normal life, and he came back to see Sam living that normal life- he would have stayed away. There was no pressing reason for them to be together- no missing father, no demon deal, no apocalypse. Dean would have tried to let Sam live a normal life without him, just as Sam did for Dean.

I lurve sammy, i'd probably never disagree with him

I'm not sure. lol Because Sam thought he was doing the right thing by letting Dean live a normal life. He knew Dean wanted and needed to have that so he knew he just couldn't go and ruin it. But at the same time Dean had fallen apart in the beginning and now he doesn't know if that's what he does want. But because Sam let him live a normal life now Dean kinda doesn't have a choice. He feels like he must stay and protect Lisa and Ben so now he is stuck even if he doesn't want it anymore.

if these were real people i would totally say yes, he was right to let Dean have a good, happy life--but this being an awesome tv show....i much prefer Lisa and Ben to be less prominent in the plot and keep to the Dean Sam duo...in other words I wish Sam had told him right away and forget all this "one year later" crap...I hate when shows jump through the years

It's so hard to choose, but mostly I think no because it almost KILLED Dean, you know it did. He may have been happy-ish, but in the back of his mind every time they sat down to dinner or had a cute family moment he was thinking of Sammy, and every time he was happy he felt awful because he knew (or thought he did) that Sammy was in Hell. Dean must have been tortured for months until he finally found a way to push it all down and make the pain more bearable. But this is SAMMY we are talking about, its not like he got over it, or moved on. Sam WAS his family, the only real family he ever had and he lost him (or thought he did). So I think no matter how happy he was, he was never fully happy, for a whole year and Sam, being his brother should have known that.