The Fantastic Road So Far – Season Six
This is in response to Elle2’s article discussing her reasons for being disappointed in Season 6. Instead of writing all this out in the comment section, I decided to write it up in article form since I have author power! Or something. At any rate, Elle2, thanks for writing out your feelings and posting them. I know it must be really hard for you to feel that way about the show, and I appreciate you taking the time to share your frustrations. However, I have very different feelings about season 6. I think it’s been fantastic. Hence the title.
I’ll give the same spiel Elle2 did about these being my opinions and my opinions only. I haven’t fully read the comments for Elle2’s article, just scrolled through to see if people were responding, so if I say anything someone else has said already, I apologize for the duplication. So if you want to agree or disagree with me, please do. Just know that either way, anything I say here is just my own personal opinion.
I’ll follow Elle2’s path again and give you some of my viewer history. The first episode I saw was “Sympathy for the Devil,” so I’m a relative newcomer to the show. But I was so intrigued by that episode that I Netflixed season 1, and when the discs weren’t arriving soon enough, I bought all 4 seasons on DVD and had myself quite the marathon, let me tell you. So maybe since I’m fairly new to the show and haven’t gone through the years in real time, I have more tolerance for certain plot developments. I got to catch up via DVD. I don’t know if that makes a difference in viewing enjoyment, but it could.
On to season 6. I love it. Straight-up love it. Now, that’s not to say that I think everything has been perfect. It hasn’t. There are definitely some things I think could have gone better, and I’ll get to those later. But I have really been enjoying this season, and here’s a few reasons why.
What I Like
The main reason I am loving this season is because I have no idea where it’s going. Every time I think I’ve got a handle on what to expect, something happens that throws me completely off track. I love all the twists and turns, betrayals and deaths and questions. Nothing is what it seems to be. That’s not something we’re used to from our show, so it’s a little unsettling. They’re taking us out of our comfort zone. I used this analogy before, but I think it’s very appropriate, so I’ll copy myself and say that this season has been like riding a roller coaster in the dark. You can’t see where you’re going, you don’t know when the twists and turns are or when the bottom is going to drop out, but it’s scary and fast and fun.
In each of the previous seasons, we’ve pretty much known what the overall goal of the season was: season 1, find Dad; season 2, stop Azazel; season 3, get Dean out of his deal; season 4, keep Apocalypse from happening; season 5, oops about season 4’s goal, put a stop to the Apocalypse in progress. But this season it’s…what? Will it be about purgatory? Something to do with souls? The civil war in heaven? I don’t know! And I love that ambiguity. I love speculating about what happened in each episode and how it fits into the bigger picture and what could happen next. I am totally along for the ride, and I can’t wait to see where the writers are taking this.
I’ve also been very intrigued with Fake!Sam, or Fakie, as I shall refer to him from here on in. The whole idea of Fakie existing at all is interesting and raises all sorts of metaphysical questions about what it means to be alive, what it means to be a person. Because Fakie is obviously alive, but I would argue that he’s not a person. He’s ambiguously emotioned. He’s killed innocent people. He has no concern for the safety and well-being of those around him. He’s horrible. But he’s not a person, and he’s definitely not Sam. In the “Supernatural” world, I don’t think you can be a person without your soul. Fakie is a thing.
And since it’s a completely different entity, that raises all sorts of issues in regards to putting the soul back in. Does it have the right to choose whether or not the soul is reinstated? I’m inclined to say no, it doesn’t. It’s a dangerous monster, basically, and it either souls up or gets taken out.
After a couple of years where the bad-guy focus was geared toward demons and angels, the return of more monsters has been fun. It’s given us a chance to revisit some old friends, like shapeshifters and vampires, and meet some new creatures, like fairies and skinwalkers. This whole deal with the alphas and purgatory has a lot of potential. I want to know why these creatures are building armies. I want to see more of the alpha vamp because that guy was a BAMF. I don’t think they’re just going to drop this idea now that Crowley is dead, either. There’s something bigger afoot. And there should be. Sure, TPTB said that this season was going to be smaller in scope. Isn’t everything smaller in scope after the Apocalypse? But it also would have been fairly impossible to go from such large mytharcs to such a narrow season-1-like focus again. It was never going to be something as simple as finding their father because the show and the characters, and possibly even the viewers, have outgrown that. We don’t need something on an Apocalyptic scale, but we need to feel that what our heroes are doing is making a difference on a larger scale.
The quality of the show is just as high as ever. It looks gorgeous. The acting has been tremendous. The writers are really pushing Jared and Jensen to new places, and they’re definitely rising to the occasion. And if we compare this year’s first 11 episodes to last year’s first 11 episodes, I think season 6 is stronger overall. They’ve done a better job this season of making every episode fit into the bigger picture somehow, if only in a small way. (I’m looking at you, “All Dogs Go To Heaven.”) Remember how frustrating it was last season when there would be weeks at a time when it felt like we weren’t making any progress with the Apocalypse at all? I don’t feel that way this season. I really only feel like there was that one off week (you again, “Dogs”) as far as mytharc was concerned. I’ll take one enjoyable filler episode here and there any day over three or four weeks in a row of no progress.
I’m also impressed that in its sixth season the show is taking this many risks. It would be really easy to rest on its laurels and just continue with the status quo, but they’re not doing that. At all. They’re trying new things to keep the show fresh and interesting, and that takes a lot of guts. It’s obviously not working for some people, which is a shame because I wish everyone could enjoy this season as much as I am.
Before you all start thinking that I’ve got nothing critical whatsoever to say, there are some things about this season that I don’t think have worked as well as they could have. First and foremost of those things is Fakie and his emotions.
What I Don’t Like
Fakie himself said that he didn’t feel anything, but I call shenanigans on him. He has clearly shown spontaneous emotion in situations where he wouldn’t have had time to formulate false emotions and in situations where he hasn’t been around other people and would therefore not need to falsify his emotions. So he clearly can feel something. Maybe it looked good on paper to say he was emotionless, but it’s not practical on screen. What seemed to me to be happening, or maybe this is just how I rationalized it to myself, is that Fakie can feel emotion only when it pertains to or directly affects himself. He doesn’t generally get scared because usually when you’re scared, you’re scared of something. You’re scared of snakes or of flying or of clowns. Yes, it makes you feel terror, but it’s an external cause. The only time we’ve seen Fakie be genuinely scared is when he thought his own life was in jeopardy. He was fearful for his own life. We’ve seen him angry when his car was crushed. He showed concern for Dean when the ghouls were attacking him in “Caged Heat” because he felt like he needed Dean’s help to get his soul back. And at that point, he still wanted his soul. He needs Dean to get something he wants, so his concern for Dean is really just concern for his own needs. I’m sure there are some holes in this theory, but that’s how I saw it. And since it makes more sense to me than saying he can’t feel any emotion, I kind of wish they had gone that route instead.
I also hate that Adam didn’t get mentioned until episode 11. Seriously, that was frigging annoying. I thought maybe it was because Michael said in “Swan Song,” “Adam isn’t here right now,” meaning that he banished his soul from his body and it was back in heaven. But after “Samarra,” I don’t think that’s the case. Death told Dean to choose Sam or Adam. Now, Death could be lying to Dean, of course. But I don’t think so. If Adam is still trapped in there and doesn’t get out somehow, I’m going to be mad. Because I just don’t think it would be like Dean to leave a brother, half or not, trapped in Hell for eternity. He didn’t even want to kill a little girl he didn’t know, for Chuck’s sake. And all they had to do to assuage my Adam guilt was have someone mention him in the season premiere. Seriously, I don’t think it would have been very hard for Dean to have said, “Sam, you’re back, What about Adam?” “I don’t know, Dean.” The end.
The writing has been a little inconsistent at times, especially in regards to character inconsistencies. I’ll chalk that up to bringing on three new staff writers and having a new show runner. It can’t be an easy transition. Maybe things will smooth out soon. I’m inclined to give the writing staff the benefit of the doubt.
I think a huge missed opportunity in regards to Sam’s soul was the fact that they didn’t play up the fact that regardless of whether or not Fakie wanted the soul back, Sam’s soul was still in hell. You can’t just let Sam’s soul stay in hell, no matter where it ends up. The argument was more about whether or not Fakie wanted the thing back. Whatever. That’s a secondary argument to the fact that the soul cannot stay in hell. It just can’t. If it’s tortured and flayed and ruined and can’t go into a body, fine. Then send it up to heaven. Have Cass take it. But pretending that the only issue was whether Fakie wanted it back or not is doing a disservice to Sam, who’s stuck in hell, and Dean, who should have known better.
Lastly, I do have to say that looking back on “Exile on Main St.” knowing what we know about Fakie now, I don’t get why he came back for Dean and wanted him to come back to hunting. I get why he started hunting. If you are a revenent with certain memories and skills, I don’t think you’re just going to randomly try a whole new career. You’re probably going to do what you already know how to do. And I get that they had to get “Sam” and Dean back together somehow, but why couldn’t it have been something more like Fakie and the Campbells are hunting something and it targets and attacks Dean. They save him, he learns Sam is still alive, they kill or capture what was after them, but Dean notices that who he thinks is Sam is a little off. He’s suspicious. They part ways since Dean wants to protect Lisa and Ben, but his hunter sense is pinging, so he calls occasionally to check up on Fakie. One of the times he calls, he notices that a baby is crying in the background and Fakie is forced to tell him about the shapeshifter baby. Dean meets up with him that way, gets sucked back in and wants to keep an eye on Fakie, and boom, they’re together again and we’re pretty much where we were. Because I just don’t think that Fakie would want Dean around. I don’t think he would have asked him back. He doesn’t have a connection to Dean. Hell, if he wants to stay as Fakie, why on earth would he pal around with the person most likely to realize he wasn’t himself? A little handwaving required for that one.
General Thoughts
I do understand that not everyone is going to see things the same way I am, and that’s fine. We don’t all love the same things, which is good because if we did, that would be a really boring world. But I am curious to know a bit more from those of you who aren’t liking this season. Do you think that the pre-season PR about things being more like season 1 raised your expectations or took your expectations to a place that this season hasn’t met? Was is just marketed wrong? What precisely about seasons 1 and 2 did you want back? Was it just the brotherly relationship or is it something else? If you already answered in Elle2’s post, I’ll be catching up on those comments soon.
Because as far as the brotherly relationship goes, I honestly don’t think it will ever be where it was in seasons 1 and 2. They’ve both been through too much, together and separately. Plus, it’s been what, nearly 7 years in the show’s world; 5.5 seasons, 1 year later, and some spare months of going on Crowley runs. Let’s round to 7 for simplicity’s sake. That’s 26 to 33 for Dean and 22 to 29 for Sam. Now, I’m 29, and I can’t believe how much I have changed from 22 to 29, and I didn’t even go to hell or help start and then help stop an Apocalypse! I’m not saying that they can’t get to a place where they have a good relationship. I’m just saying that I believe they’re never going to be in that season 1 or 2 place again. But am I excited about the prospect of them working together again to fight a common foe? I sure am! Of course, being Sam and Dean, I expect a rocky road with some regression here and there. And angst. Delicious, delicious angst.
We’re also in the middle of the season still. We don’t know how this is going to end up, how things are going to come together, what’s going to happen. It’s very difficult to judge anything in a half-finished state. This season especially is a season-long progression, it seems. I think the viewers are going to be rewarded with some amazing things in the second half of the season. Plots are going to come together in ways we never would have expected. And if they don’t and we’re disappointed, well, then I’ll be sad about that, too, when the season is over. But not until the season is over and I’ve been given everything and have a chance to see a finished product. And yes, I am an optimist! Not obvious before now? Well, I am! The glass is half full of wonderful plots.
Elle2, if you’ve made it this far, I do have one topic I want to address specifically with you and that’s your frustration with Sam as you express it in your article. As you say, “I’m furious at the writers for I hate Sam Winchester and wish him gone forever.” Are you angry with him or Fakie? Because it seems to me that Sam hasn’t even been around this season. That could be a legitimate complaint in itself, but Fakie is the one doing all the bad things. Fakie is the one that doesn’t care about Dean. Dean isn’t his brother, after all. He’s just some guy in his memories. Fakie doesn’t care about Bobby or anything. Fakie only cares about himself. It gets tricky because he looks like Sam, so it’s hard not to project these feelings onto Sam. But you really don’t want the real Sam back? That’s so heartbreaking.
I don’t really want to get into Sam vs. Dean stuff because it doesn’t interest me overly much, but just so you all understand more about where I’ve been coming from with this article, this show is about two brothers for me. Sam may be the heart of the mytharc but Dean is the emotional heart. You can’t have one without the other. And I think this is how the show has functioned for a while now. While I do personally relate to Dean more and hold him dearer to my heart, I think Sam is equally important to the show. I don’t want to boost one at the expense of the other.
Wow, this ended up being a lot longer than I intended, and if you’ve made it this far, thanks! I’m interested to hear what you all have to say, if you’re not all commented out. I do think we’re going somewhere special with this. I think the back half is going to tie things up in an amazing way, and we’ll appreciate the first half that much more when we see the end result. And it looks like we’re headed toward more brotherly, real brotherly, interaction in the future now that Sam has his soul back. Or, rather, Sam’s soul has his body back. Do I expect some cracks to form in the wall? Sure. Is Dean going to be there to pick up the pieces? Of course, because he always is. I’m excited to see what happens next. January 28th can’t get here soon enough.
Ardeospina,
This is a fantastic article and I’m so glad you decided to put your comments into a full-fledged article for they deserve just that, they’re own place. Thank you.
To answer your question, it’s Fakie I’m angry about, completely. Since a few have wondered at that I realize that I did not make that clear. It’s Fakie and the idea that he has ‘rights’ or a choice in being as he is that I have a problem with. I don’t care about him at all, I want Sam, the Sam that remains in the pit out, free, and safe (well, as safe as anything or anyone ever is in the SPN realm)
I’m going to treat your excellent article as I have the comments that have come in on my most frustrating article, as help for me (and perhaps for many others) to see things in a different light.
I already am seeing things in a different and much better light becasue of everything written here and now you have added your thoughtful and joyous views. You write just as I used to, I want to find that way again and I do believe I am on my way.
Planning to lay low for a few weeks and just enjoy the past seasons as well as the games and the fun that is here and based on the many thought-provoking comments thus far that abound and now to come from your, again, excellent article, I plan to rewatch Season 6 with a new outlook. I’m looking forward to refinding the Supernatural love that I used to have with no problem at all.
This is excellent, thank you so much for countering my viewpoint in this manner; it’s what we strive for here at The Winchester Family Business, balance but most of all, fun!
First reaction to this article? I’m clapping and whistling like a fecking mad woman after reading it!
And for some reason, ‘You’ve Got the Love’ by Florence and the Machine is playing in my head now. The words are so apt for this situation!
I have commented on Elle2,s article and freely admit I can be opinionated and passionate . You said you hold Dean dearer to your heart but you see thats how I feel about Sam and with all due respect to Elle2 when I read remarks like you quoted ” I’m furious with the writers for I hate Sam Winchester and want him gone” how do I respond to that wether she meant souless Sam or not . What is Sam something to be chucked away because he doesnt fit what people want?.
I happen to love the Season so far for my own reasons and have no problem with someone not favouring the Season .Just when they make Sam the scapegoat for their dislike .
The article you have written has been distinct and you layed out your reasons and has not tried to start a Sam v Dean war and I thank you for that.
Thanks for another interesting article. I have similar issues with you WRT how they have decided to portray the soullessness. But more than that, like Elle2, it bothers me that what was a heroic sacrifice – and that’s not just my opinion but something the show implied if not outright declared – should result in Sam’s soul being sent to Hell. It makes no sense *whatsoever*.
I am also really pretty angry(!) about what I see as a direct comparison between the brothers’ Hell ordeal that imo diminishes what Dean went through, and takes away about the only plot point that remained unique to him after the retconning of S4-5. So my hope is the “wall” never crumbles and that at least Dean’s courage and strength in dealing with his PTSD (such as it was) remains unique to him. I am not impressed with Something’s Wrong With Sam part VI, and not impressed that Dean seems to have been reduced to revolving around Sam and his issues again. I would expect nothing less of Dean than for him to be concerned with Sam’s wellbeing. And that’s what has been going on for the entire first half of this season. I hope he will have more to do in the second half of the season, and that he assumes some importance in this season overall arc, or I’ll be checking out before the end.
My other big issue is with yet another whitewash for yet another version of evol Sam. It completely trivializes what he has done while soulless and more importantly what he has done to *Dean*. I fully expect to see Sam apologize – he loves Dean and I expect no less of him. But what will happen then? We’ll likely have Dean saying, “no probs Sam, it wasn’t really you.” Problem is, it *was* Sam. It isn’t a fake Sam at all. It is a Sam with his intellect fully present, not suppressed by any kind of demonic possession like it was in BUABS, and not under the influence of demon blood. And I would like to see him own what he has done and learn from it. That is character development and as long as Sam is infantilized and enabled by the writers, his character will never develop. I used to love Sam just as much as Dean. I want to again. But that is up to the writers, and for me this brotherly bond will never seem the same unless Dean is allowed to express his anger over how he has been treated. I love Cas but I never ever believed it would ever get to the point where I wanted to see Dean and Cas get in the Impala and leave Sam in their dust. Now I am at that point and it saddens me.
I’m hopeful my concerns will be addressed in the second half of the season but I’m not at all confident. I remember how the clock ticked down on season 5 and how hopeful I was then. Well, they fooled me once but they won’t be doing that again. 🙁
We have not seen the real Sam since ‘Swan Song’. Therefore, all we have had are the Soulless One’s reactions to everything.
I agree Ardeospina, the only things that got a ’emotional’ reaction from the Soulless 1, are things that affected him personally.
‘MY car got crushed by angels’, ‘that baby is crying and giving ME a headache’, ‘that girl is giving ME the eye, ‘my soul is damaged and I do not want it replaced in ME’ etc. With the Soulless One it was me, me, me. 😀
But he is gone (yeah 😀 😀 :D), and so we will restart the season with a Sam that has his soul back, but will he remember the time in the cage and also will he have memories of what he did while his body was soulless? (ie. the killing of innocents that he talked about to Dean, and most importantly: STANDING AND WATCHING DEAN GET TURNED INTO A VAMPIRE, that alone should give Sam nightmares and years with Dr. Phil)
Dean, of course, will be there to help Sam through the ordeal. I truly believe (hope) that the season will end
with Dean and Sam being as close as there were in the earlier seasons.
I am with you, I am enjoying this season, even though the Soulless One did get on my nerves after a while, and when he went after Bobby with such a fever, it was WTF. There were some sucky episodes (Clap), but the season so far is going good.
Cannot wait for the end of January to get here, so that we can continue the ride.
Thanks for your article. Like you, I’m loving Season 6, and for the same reasons. The fact that we don’t know where we’re going to is precisely the charm of it. You never ceases to be surprised and I’m excited by that. However, all the negativity about the season really depresses me and I feel as if I’m the only one who likes it.
I agree that the focus should have been Sam’s soul suffering in the cage, not whether RoboSam wanted it back or not. You’re so right when you say that Sam got his body back and not the other way around.
I’m with the people who find unacceptable that Adam was never mentioned before. I’m glad they finally brought up the subject. I hope it doesn’t stop there and they do something for the poor boy. I can see Sam feeling guilty about dragging Adam to the pit with him and wanting to make amends.
Now to what I don’t like: Lisa/Ben. I don’t hate THEM or anything of the sort but I just don’t like this part of the story. I don’t even know exactly why I don’t. It just doesn’t feel right that Dean is divided between Sam and a second family. Maybe I’m jealous of their intrusive presence between Sam and Dean? It could be (call me sick if you want). If Sam was allowed to have other relationships too (like Sarah Blake?), maybe I’d feel differently. But in the line of what Elle2 said about RoboSam, I hate Lisa/Ben (as a plot)and I want them to disappear.
Sorry, nancyL, I loved Clap. It was so funny and one of the highlights of the season! 😆 But that’s my opinion. Like Arde said, what a bore if everyone thought the same. 😉
elle2’s article was really troubling to me (of course it was valid, and I agreed with a lot of it, but reading all the negative things about season 6 all at once was kind of disconcerting) and I was hoping someone would write a positive response to it. Wish granted! I settled down with my SPN playlist and my laptop to read this, and I feel much better having done so. It balanced with elle2’s so well, it could have been a companion.
Overall, I like this season a lot. Like you said, I’m proud of the writers for taking this season in such a brave direction. Even if it doesn’t pan out, at least they’ll look back and say they had no regrets. Everything that could have been done with this show will have been. =) Until, of course, they come up with an amazing idea for season 7.
But, my dear AndreaW, we both seem to agree on the subject of Lisa/Ben. 😀
I am glad that they are out of the picture. I am ok that they are still alive, but they have no place in the lives of Dean and Sam. Dean (imo) was not happy in ‘Exile’, he was there because that was Sam’s ‘dying’ wish. The hunter in Dean was still there, he wasn’t completely domesticated.
AndreaW, do you know what they call the town where everyone thinks the same?? STEPFORD. 😀 How about an episode where Bobby and Rufus take on the urban legend of the Stepford Wives?? 😆
season 7, Sam and Dean take a much needed vacation.
Grand Canyon here we come. 😀 😀
I have to wonder at those who want Dean to take care of woobie Sam, again. Like Dean hasn’t done it for the past 6 years and the show once again gives him nothing to do but be all about Sam.
I also have to wonder at all the fans who complained about Dean talking about hell for all the 8 minutes he was allowed, and called him whiny are now asking that Dean be all about Sam and his manpain, and want to hear all about Sam and his torture. Boo hoo Sam.
But this article is missing the one thing that this show has ignored so far, what of Dean? What is his story? Why is it ok for Sam to be all about himself, his manpain, his destiny, him, him, him, and Dean’s only role should be all about Sam?
I would like for once to see Dean’s potential storylines taken up and told, not ignored or given to Sam, which is what this season has done. It has taken Dean’s hell story and given it to Sam. It has taken Dean’s “part that stayed in hell” and given it to Sam. It now has taken Dean’s PTSDs and given them to Sam. It has taken Dean’s angel story and given it to Sam. Sam keeps getting and getting and getting and Dean is being stripped of everything.
Which is why I cannot agree that this season has been so fantastic, because it hasn’t. It has been great for the Sam fans, because it’s been all about Sam and Dean’s been all about Sam and that’s all that matters to Sam fans and Sera.
But it’s not enough to keep the Dean fans coming and most are already packing up and leaving. In the end, Sera will have the audience she’s been craving. The one that is only made up of Sam fans.
nancyL, what a great idea! We should email this suggestion to Sera Gamble, to consideration for a future episode. Bobby and Rufus could do the job while Sam and Dean are vacationing in Grand Canion. 🙂 😉
If you want my opinion, Dean never seemed to be really happy with Lisa. He was just OK. As far as I remember, he never said he loves her. In Twihard, he only said he was grateful. I think he was missing the notion of a family, because he didn’t see RoboSam as family. Now that he has Sammy back, let’s see how it’s going to be.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts, Ardeospina.
I can only say that you and I have rather different tastes… Because most of your “What I Like†list covers the aspects I don’t like at all. Unfortunately, I agree with the “What I Don’t Like†list. 😉
Does it mean there’s nothing about this season I like? No, as long as I don’t think of the episode I’m watching as a part of a whole, I can enjoy it. It’s the overall picture that disturbs me.
You see an unpredictable and exciting story; I see lack of direction and lack of imagination. Dropping storylines that have been developed for more than four episodes does not indicate good writing to me. There is not a shred of coherence among the multiple but rather lean plots. I like surprises too, but not at the expense of the story. What I know so far is a bunch of facts without the slightest hint of connection between them. Even if it turns out that they are somehow connected (in episode 22 maybe?), there has been no foreshadowing. I do not call this good writing either.
Then there is the characterisation. I have complained enough about it in my comments to elle2’s article, so I’ll just say this:
If two grown men prove consistently incapable of forming any meaningful relationships outside of their fraternal bond, no matter what the external circumstances might be, this bond is not healthy. Sam and Dean have to be able to stand on their own. If their need for each other is so profound, they are together out of necessity; because they cannot function otherwise – it is not heart-warming, it’s pathetic. Imagine how much stronger their relationship could be, if they did not NEED to be together, because either the one or the other might fall apart any second, but instead CHOSE to be together …
Yeah, I’ll shut up now.
The acting is still top notch thought. It is pretty much the only thing keeping me around.
My friend, radical SATIRICAL, and I are totally on board with this season. We both love it. She’s a long time fan, if I remember correctly, while I caught onto it just this fall and have been cramming five seasons down my throat in order to catch up.
But I’m totally in love with this season as it falls into line with some of my favorite story ideas ever. No one know what exactly is the point of the season,as you said, so things will happen that throw you off guard. It’s a big, giant mystery and it’s all the more fun to crack. Sometimes, this can cause all sorts of untied loose ends, but if the writers are good, they’ll pull all those loose ends together (or at least tie them up) into something that makes sense.
I can’t wait until this restarts.
Until then, I’ve got AHBL 1 & 2 saved on my DVR. And I have to rewatch season 5.
Arde, I’m on your team.
This season’s been a bit of a slow burner for me … Fairly Meh to start with but now I’m dying to know more about everything, I love the ambiguity. One of the things that put me off S5 was that we always knew that it was going to end up with the apocalypse death-match and so for me it boiled down into umpteen episodes of ( adopts Mrs. Doyle voice )
“Give us your body, you know you want to …Oh, go on, go on, go on … “
Whereas this time round I have no idea where we’re going with the story and it’s fab! ( My money’s on Balthazar for the current Root-Of-All-Evil, He’s smart, powerful, off the lead AND a posh Brit, which is never good news in the SPNverse )
I liked NotSam in the same way I like Crowley and Meg, all rotten to the core but sort of stylish in a blackhearted fashion, but I’m so ready to have RealSam back again … Hope the wall holds, though, as I want action not angst come January!
Arde, as Yvonne would say – `You Rock` and to borrow a phrase from Dany `Get out of my head woman`, you have here summed up perfectly everything I have been feeling about season 6 , Thank You !
I have found the complaints and negative attitudes around here for the last weeek very difficult to deal with, in my opinion, it seems a disservice to the team which works so very hard to produce the show to express such opinions so vociferously about a season when that season is incomplete. It should be looked at as an entire body of work, something which none of us can yet do.
I think back to this time last year and where we were at the end of episode 11 . We had just watched `Sam Interrupted` and were now waiting for the rest of season 5, not everyone was happy then either, there had been complaints about earlier episodes, Fallen Idols ( my own personal `Bugs` ) I believe the children are our future and The Curious Case of Dean Winchester to name a few , We had also had some brilliant episodes , Changing Channels and The Real Ghostbusters which , despite containing some important plot reveals did little to move the myth arc forward. BUT, think then what followed in the second half of the season, some of what I consider to among the finest episodes ever , Dark side of the moon, My Bloody Valentine , Point of no return and of course Swan Song. This makes me really excited anticipating what is to come in this season too.
I think many people had a false expectation thinking this was going to be `like Season 1 ` I always failed to see how it could be, as you point out, you are very different to how you were back then. When you take into consideration what the `boys` we met back then have been through in the intervening years they are very different `men` now with quite a bit of extra baggage. I prefer to not think `season 1` but as Jensen called it `Supernatural – The Bonus Round`.
This season has not been perfect , none of them have , but as far as I am concerned , perfect is boring and this show can be accused of being many things but boring is not one of them. I understand people have found it hard to see the characters so disconnected
but they had to be, all we have had so far has been Fakie ( incidentally I LOVE this name ). Sam has not been there until AIS when he finally appeared. Sam was that brilliant, shiny, bright light drawn from the depths of the Gladstone bag. I have no idea what condition Sam is now going to be in, but this is one of the things I cannot wait to discover.
I am eagerly anticipating the rest Season 6 , I cannot wait to see where it takes us. We speculate, Lord knows we speculate! But how often are we right. The questions are endless, what is the mystery surrounding the issue of `souls`? The civil war in heaven? This of course also means we get more of our wonderful little resident angel, and then of course Sams return and all the potential fallout from this.
I hope this return will satisfy those who have missed the brotherly connection so much, but I note already that there have been complaints that ` Dean is now going to have to hold Sams hand again` as if this is a bad thing. Isnt this one of the core elements of the show, the way these two love , support and care for each other? Whatever else happens for me this IS the shows heart and I cannot see the fact that Sam will need his brothers` support as a negative thing at all as conversely Dean will also need Sam too.
So, I have have no idea where we are going fromn here, do any of us, but personally I cannot wait for January 28th to see where the `road` leads us, and there is no way I would considering geting off the `ride` at all. I love it far too much and know I have good company on this journey too.
Once again Thanks so much for this, you have hepled to restore my faith Love Ju
Suze –
I love your posts!
You have struck on an idea there , how about a SPN Father Ted crossover? How much would you pay to watch that.
Bobby sat in the corner with Father Jack watching Tori Spelling on TV.
Castiel debating theology with Dougal, oh to be a fly on the wall for that conversation.
Oh go on, go on, go on, go on, you know you want it too ! Ju 😀
Suze, there’s actually a legitimate reason for a hunt. Theres that damn Beast of Craggy Island still roaming the moors, terrorising the locals, and he needs to be hunted down, fast. Even wendigos are scared of this thing….
I mean, they say it’s as big as four cats, and it’s got a retractable leg so as it can leap up at you better and it lights up at night, and it’s got four ears. Two of them are for listening and the other two are kind of back-up ears, and it’s claws are as big as cups and for some reason it’s got a tremendous fear of stamps and Mrs. Doyle was telling me that it’s got magnets on it’s tail so’s if you’re made out of metal it can attach itself to you, and instead of a mouth it’s got four arses.
Add to that, some of his ears are on the inside of his head and when he yawns it sounds like Liam Neeson chasing a load of hens around inside a barrel.
I mean, how pants-wetting scary is THAT!!
Sam and Dean can stay at my place….
Thanks for your great article, Ardeospina!
I completely agree with you on most things, I love this season, precisely for the reasons you mentioned: it´s new territory, it´s exciting, we are exploring realms we haven´t been to before, real places and places of the mind and soul, I truly love that.
And if some, or much of it is painful, well, life is painful sometimes or often, and there would be nothing to enjoy if we did not know pain as well.
Where I do not quite agree with you: I do not truly see Fakie, as you call him, as a separate (non-)person, but still as a part of Sam. He does not copy or imitate Sam, he is Sam with the core missing, which would and did make him into a kind of heartless parody. Fakie is Sam with the balance taken away to “make up” for the raw instincts that are a part of every person.
I still don´t regard him as evil at all, I think evil needs a soul corrupted. I see a certain kind of innocence in him, the way a small child would crush an insect, or a cat plays with a mouse. It looks heartless, and it is, but it is not malicious – there´s a difference.
What distinguishes Fakie from them is the fact that unlike them he knows about “ethics” intellectually, but since he can´t feel them they make no difference to him beyond his sense of self-preservation.
Still, part of Sam or not, I agree that Fakie had only limited rights, the same way you don´t let a tiger roam the streets and the same way you don´t let a small child decide if it wants to sit on the window sill on the third floor.
I´m also pretty sure that Sam, ReensouledSam, will see Fakie as a part of himself and he will have trouble dealing with that. He will at the very least feel responsible, and I don´t see that as completely wrong. Responsible not in the sense of it having been his fault, but in the sense that it concerns him directly and is thus something he needs to deal with.
That makes for a very interesting setup as well, another angle to the exploration of the soul SPN has been doing through Sam (“symbolized” first through the demon blood and now through “Fakie”: looking at your dark and raw sides and embracing them, because a person is only complete with all their facettes, and peace, self-love can only come when all the parts have formed a whole and been accepted as such. I see that as the ultimate step of development of the individual soul.
As for the story not being about Dean, it´s true that most of the mythology evolves about Sam, not Dean, not only in this season but the others as well.
I don´t see how that takes away from Dean though. Dean is someone who focuses on the outside, on other people, away from himself, that´s who he is, the same way Sam is more focused on himself, his own inner world. Neither is better or worse for that, and no judgment is being made on either of them. Dean´s story is being told in a way that fits his personality (live in the moment, down-to-earth), and Sam´s story is being told in a way that fits is personality as well (larger scale, the greater picture)- and in spite of them being so close and basically living the same life, their individual stories are vastly different, because, at heart, they are very different people – and that in itself is a fascinating story.
So it make sense and gives everything an inner balance if the story moulds itself to that psychological set-up instead of contradicting it.
I also love that we still don´t know where we are going.
I don´t truly have exptectations beyond the team doing the best they can, I trust them to come up with something good, “good” being anything that gives me something to feel and something to think about on the many levels and at the high intensity they have managed so far, and as far as I am concerned, they are only getting better (there may be some things to criticize, but I don´t truly mind them, I usually focus on the things I like).
So, yes, I love just about everything about Season 6 and I can´t wait for it to continue!
Julie,Tim … 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆
Oh you wicked buggers …
Now all the customers are giving me weird looks because I can’t stop laughing!
That would be the cross-over to kill for and no mistake, just the prospect of a Dougal and Cas What-Is-God conversation opens up vistas of sublime gibberish that thrill me to the marrow, and Winchesters V’s The Beast! It has to happen! Who do we have to kidnap to make it so … 😉
Yume….perfectly said…
@Yume, I agree with anonymousN. Great comment. I tend, or tended, to see RoboSam as merely Sam’s vessel, with little or no connection with the real Sam. But it’s very interesting what you said about RoboSam being Sam without a core. It’s a new angle and I like it.
While I agree that the mythology revolves mostly around Sam, I sustain that the story is told from Dean’s POV. The way I see it, the plot is largely focused on how Dean is affected by what happens to Sam. If you take Season 6, for example, even though it’s Sam’s soul that is missing, it’s all about DEAN’s quest for Sam’s soul and how Dean feels about it. Also, it’s Dean who has a second family to care about, not Sam. I’m fine with that (the balance, not the family). My problem is when Sam is shoved aside like an acessory and it happened a lot in Season 4 and part of Season 5. So it’s not fair to say that this is a Sam-centric season. Season 6 is the most balanced of the later seasons, IMO.
I have to admit that I haven’t been overly impressed with the season, at least so far. I thought it started out wiht a lot of potential, as the audience, through Dean’s POV, felt the uncertainty of this new landscape, a Sam who was so different, brand new relatives who talked about family but clearly had their own agenda, monsters acting out of character. But once the reveal of Sam’s soul came around, the show’s momentum pretty much came to a grinding halt. Nothing happened to really move the larger mytharc forward. The Campbells were summarily killed off (I’m still not sure why they were even around in the first place), Samuel slunk off somewhere, Crowley gave some exposition and then died, we got to see Meg again. The discussion boards over the past month or so have been deader than dead, to a level I’d never seen before even with the holidays: I suspect that’s because, other than Sam’s soul, there really hasn’t been anything else to talk about. Focusing on only one character and only his storyline is, imo, not a great strategy for keeping an entire fandom invested and excited.
You asked about expectations for the season: I have to admit that, from the early promos, I’d really expected Dean to play a bigger role in the season than he has. I never thought his only purpose for 10 episodes was to briefly have a girlfriend and then spend the rest of the time angsting. And it didn’t help to realize that, no, there wasn’t a good reason why Sam went to get Dean in “Exile” other than Jensen is contracted to be in the show. At least in “Appt”, Dean actually got to DO something and saved the real Sam. That was actually encouraging, since I’d begun to think Dean was just going to be window dressing for the rest of the season. And honestly, if “Appt” hadn’t apparently changed the direction of the show to open up the other arcs, I hadn’t planned to come back after the hiatus. It’s not that I begrude Sam his storyline but the thought of an entire season revolving only around Sam to the same degree we saw recently isn’t something that would have interested me enough to stick around.
I’m hoping that the season finally finds its footing in this second half. I really want to enjoy it as much as I have the previous ones but so far, it’s been a pretty bumpy course.
“Which is why I cannot agree that this season has been so fantastic, because it hasn’t. It has been great for the Sam fans, because it’s been all about Sam and Dean’s been all about Sam and that’s all that matters to Sam fans and Sera.
But it’s not enough to keep the Dean fans coming and most are already packing up and leaving. In the end, Sera will have the audience she’s been craving. The one that is only made up of Sam fans.”
I agree so hard with this. But if Sera doesn’t have the Dean fans then she doesn’t have a show since the Dean fans are the majority. So I’m hoping she realises that and that now we’re past this boring Sam part of the story the season will start to get better.
As far as I know, Sera Gamble has been with Supernatural since the beginning, over six years now. I think it’s rather unfair to suggest that she will take a proven winning formula and destroy it just so that she can get what she wants. People might have it in their heads that she is a ‘Sam Girl’ but she’s done little to prove it so far; taken away his ‘soul’, his compassion, his empathy etc, the things that made most people like Sam in the first place. She then went and replaced it with someone (or something!) that may not even be relatable to human, has him betray his brother, kill innocents, nearly commit patricide and this is her way of showing she likes Sam better!
Also, if I’m not mistaken, Eric Kripke is still Executive Producer on the show, the show he created, the show he nurtured for more than five years. Is he going to just sit around twiddling his thumbs and watch as Sera Gamble ‘destroys’ what he created? I would seriously doubt it.
“In the end, Sera will have the audience she’s been craving. The one that is only made up of Sam fans….†Now, I freely admit I know nothing about business so I know very little about these types of decisions. However, do people honestly think that Sera Gamble would risk the future of the show, the channels investment, the careers of her actors and her own professional reputation in order to get what she’s always ‘craved’? Would the actors stand for it?? Guaranteed, if the other executive producers and indeed the station network guys had even an inkling that was going to happen, they’d have stepped in a long time ago. Kripke et al know what’s happening in the long run this season, if they weren’t happy with it, it would have been changed.
“But if Sera doesn’t have the Dean fans then she doesn’t have a show since the Dean fans are the majority.†Are they? Jeez, if only the producers had known that they’d have kill Sam off years ago! I’d have thought the vast majority of fans were fans of the ‘show’ and it’s dynamic, not one particular brother. Honestly, this sounds as if some ‘Dean fans’ are trying to hold the show to ransom, ‘Give us what we want or we won’t watch, and then you’ll have nothing’.
This whole situation reminds me terribly of something I heard/read somewhere before (probably here!) about a man who was out travelling and he asked someone directions to a nearby town. When he got them, he asked the guy his impression of the town and he was told it was a dirty hovel of a town, the people were rude, the food was terrible, the lodgings were poor etc. So, with a heavy heart, he travels to the town and sure enough, all around him he sees evidence of what he’d been told, the town was a dive.
He leaves the town and some days later is in the same situation. He asks a different passerby for his opinion of the town. He’s told by this man that the town is a wonderful place, the people are friendly, the food is great, the rooms are comfortable etc. So with a happy heart he travels to the town and there he sees all that the second man had told him; the town is a smashing place.
Exact same town, he just went into it with a different attitude and saw two completely different things.
Okay, it’s a fairly sucky example and I’m pretty sure I told it wrong but the point still remains. If people watch SPN only looking for evidence of one thing, they’ll find it. If you have it in your head that Dean is a second rate character whose only role is to have an on again-off-again girlfriend while he holds Sams hand, then that’s all you’ll see. If you watch the show with the preconceived notion that Sam is an inhumane monster, that’s all you’ll be able to see. It doesn’t mean that’s all there is.
I do get it. We want what we want and very often we don’t think of the bigger picture. Personally, I’d sell both Sam and Dean up the river in a heartbeat for a John episode. However, Gamble, Kripke et all didn’t come this far, and create this momentous a show, by calling favourites. There have been numerous times throughout the years where both sets of fans have been dissatisfied with the way the show was going, but they were always left sated (and often elated) at the end. The writers and producers, no matter how much we complain about them, do know what they are doing. They know what’s best for the show so consequently they know what’s best for its fans.
I’m going to go with The Rolling Stones on this one when they said ‘You can’t always get what you want but if you try sometimes, you just might find, you get what you need.’
Blessed by thy author power, Flamey… 😉
I haven’t been comfortable with everything this season gave us, but I love your argument that it was great because it took us out of our comfort zone (among other reasons), and that makes it even dearer to me. I haven’t looked at it from this point of view, and now it makes perfect sense to me. Thank you so much for bringing that thought to my head.
And I agree that the show looks wonderful, they take many risks, not only in terms of storytelling, but also in set designs, gore etc. and they manage to surprise me ever again which is not easy with at gal who has seen a lot in tv and movies.
I’m not completely in agreement with your assessments of ‘Fakie’, and I’ve stated that elsewhere, so I won’t repeat it again here.
I do hope we will get to know what happened to Sam’s soul in hell, just as we were told what happened to Dean’s. I already dreading that episode. When Dean told Sam, leaning on his trusty Impala, what happened to him and what he had to do, I felt like I was being torn apart – by emotions evoked by a freakin’ tv show! Blimey! I have a feeling I will get there again when we hear what Sam had to endure down there. Show, I love you for torturing the willing masochist here.
And I agree wholeheartedly that it’s a story about TWO brothers. They keep the show going, they keep our emotions twisting, and I feel emotionally influenced by both Winchesters, in different ways, though. Both are equally important to the show and I love how the writers are aware of how necessary it is that their relationship changes. After all they’ve been through, they can’t remain at episode-one-status.
I hope you’re right – bring on the brotherly stuff.
Enchanting Tim, thank you for making one of my points I was trying to establish in the comments to the thread of my exploding article! I agree very much. People see what they want to see, basically.
Best, Jas
If both Sam and Dean fans are convinced that the other one is getting the bulk of the storylines doesn’t that mean they’re coming out about equal? I say this because it’s a scientificaly proven fact if you give my kids identical biscuits they are both adamant that the other’s bicuit is bigger … QED! ( or something ) 😉
Rats … That’s biscuit, not bicuit, sorry! 😳 Keyboard’s sticking … 👿
Suze, your intellect is dizzying! 😉 Thank you for this wonderful, undeniable q.e.d.! The best advice comes from real life, doesn’t it?!
“If both Sam and Dean fans are convinced that the other one is getting the bulk of the storylines doesn’t that mean they’re coming out about equal?”
From what I’ve seen, many Samfans have been thrilled with this season so I’m not sure that it’s really an issue at this point. It’s mostly the Dean fans who are unhappy. I don’t just lurk on this board but I also make the rounds across the various SPN boards and LJ: there’s a lot of discontent out there. I’m coming across more and more posts from Dean fans who are either throwing in the towel now or are waiting to see what 6.12 brings before deciding whether to call it quits.
I’ve read some comments about how this is no different from what the Sam fans went through in S4. That might be true on one level but to me, there’s an important difference: I never had any doubt that Sam, as the hero of the mytharc, would always be center stage and that he would end up being redeemed in some major way. There isn’t any such guarantee for Dean’s character. He doesn’t drive the uber plot. I’ve seen him compared on this board to Han Solo, Samwise, Dr. Watson- all secondary characters, with varying degrees of importance to the overall story. And after seeing just how easily Kripke discarded 2 years of Dean’s storyline to leave Dean with the role of the wind beneath Sam’s wings in the finale, it wouldn’t surprise me if the same happened again this season. If that’s going to be the case, then frankly, I’m not interested. It’s not about wanting to shortchange Sam’s post Hell arc; Sam deserves to have a proper arc dealing with his issues. It’s about not wanting to keep watching Dean be stripped of his core qualities and relegated to being a plot device for Sam’s storyline.
That being said, between some of the TV Guide spoilers and how “Appt” opened up a new direction for the season in a way that might actually involve Dean (not to mention seeing more of the old Dean in that episode), I’m hoping things will be better. That would be awesome. I’ve been a hardcore fan since the Pilot first aired and the last thing I want to do is give up on a show that I’m so invested in.
Thanks for the article Arde! Julie stole my line, but it’s true, you really do rock.
So many have already posted so much, and expressed it better than I am able. So I’ll just say, I love the show, I love the boys. As with all great love affairs, there are times of trial, times of faith and times of ecstatic joy. I’m in for the long haul, and happily determined to enjoy the ride as much as possible.
“Personally, I’d sell both Sam and Dean up the river in a heartbeat for a John episode.”
😮 😮 😮 Tim, you are amazing. I heart thee. 🙂 😛 😎 😉
What a love affair, Yvonne – and what a fine comparison. So, let’s keep loving this show with all that fire and joy we’ve felt from the beginning!
Love, Jas
@Tammi
Having been a LOTR and Tolkien fan long before the films ever made their appearance on the big screen, I can assure you that Samwise Gamgee is far from being a “secondary” character, in fact he’s so little “secondary” that someone (among fans as much as among critics) think him to be the REAL hero of all the story.
Sincerely I don’t get all the “Sam mytharc vs Dean mytharc (or lack of the same)” issue. I am on the team of the ones who think Sam being the mythical heart, while Dean being the emotional heart. And that’s not a difference in “importance”, just in role. They are equally needed for the story: without a mythical arc, the story doesn’t have a purpose, without an emotional POV the story is cold and bleak.
Maybe is because I don’t see that it exists just ONE type of heroism, just ONE way to be the hero of a story. I see heroism not only in “heroic deeds”, but also in “heroic sufferings”, not only in “doing something”, but also in “enduring something”. You can be a hero by both going and resolve desperate situations, AND holding the hands of desperate people. You can kill monsters or you can attend your dearest when they’re very ill: there’s no difference for me, you’re a hero anyway.
So I don’t have ANY problem with Dean being “his brother’s keeper” and not the “mythical hero”: in fact that’s what makes him so dear to me. I don’t need another “hero” (LOL!), I need a common man who’s able to cope with peril and death armed just of his courage and love. Love without what the “hero” NEVER could fulfill his journey and quest.
Two faces of the same coin: that’s what Sam and Dean are to me. Different, but equally relevant and needed.
“I see heroism not only in “heroic deeds”, but also in “heroic sufferings”, not only in “doing something”, but also in “enduring something”.” I’m a big sister of a much beloved little brother and I tell you, I could never have endured what Dean did when Sam jumped in the pit, let alone support Sam’s decision. He had to overcome his own grief and pain in order to help his brother do what he had to. It may not seem much to some fans but trust me, it was huge. If Dean wasn’t being a hero then, I just don’t know what heroism means anymore. I’m a Samgirl, but I would have been equally proud to be a Deangirl by the end of Swan Song.
Great post and uplifting to read. Thanks.
Thanks a lot for “Fakie”. Great name! I thought even in the first episode this season that Sam was not Sam, but perhaps a substitute. Its amusing that the Samgirls are happy with this season, as stated in a post above, while to me we have yet, after 11 episodes, not even laid eyes upon our Sammy. Fakie seems to me comparable to a zombie, a body without the original person inside, although Fakie is much better groomed than most zombies. 😉
Also, Fakie has no more rights than a brains hungry zombie and if his soul can be found, it should be shoved back in in spite of Fakie’s protests. Its the soul that should have say in whether it wants to be reunited with its body. I have no liking whatsoever for this Fakie creature, but I certainly don’t hate Sam for it. Its not Sam’s fault Fakie is a murderous sociopath. I’m really hoping Fakie’s behaviour doesn’t upset the real Sam. He will have enough trouble when the happenings in the cage come through the cracks. And of course Dean will help him through the angst, as he has before, and why shouldn’t he? He loves his Sammy, and why is that a bad thing to some fans?
This Sam vs Dean stuff is ridiculous to me as I have never been slanted to see it that way. Its like the Bible that so many different people get so many different opinions about the same passages. If they have a bias, that’s the way they see it because they are looking for it.
I admit I miss the close relationship of seasons 1, 2 and 3 (they are my most enjoyable seasons to rewatch) but I do know they both have grown and gone through so much that it can’t be the same way it was. I just hope they can get back some of that caring and loving they used to have.
And I don’t hate Lisa and Ben, like some others do, and feel that the ones that dislike them intensely perhaps are a leetle bit jealous that Dean loves them? 😮
Dean would have a hard time to find another woman who is as good for him as Lisa. Perhaps he still may believe that Ben COULD maybe be his? I don’t resent him with Lisa (since Jo is dead and gone, another one the fans disliked intensely) and have no reason to believe he doesn’t love both Lisa and Ben.
I see I’m just babbling on and on here, so I just want to say I love this show, as Jas says, with fire and joy and thankfulness that I have it to enjoy and hopefully for a few years more, before the boys drive off into the sunset on their last episode.
Sorry Bevie, but Dean does not ‘love’ Lisa. He may ‘love’ the idea of being in love (Cassie), but he never told Lisa that he loved her.
It is not jealously, it is fact. Sam may have loved Jessica, but there is no woman in Dean’s life that he loves. When Carmen said ‘I love you’ to him, he ignored her and looked at Sam.
If there is anyone that Dean has said ‘I love you’ to, it would have to be a Winchester (more than likely Sam)or maybe Bobby. That is it.
Thanks very much for commenting, everyone! I’m pleased that you took the time to read through this rather lengthy post and respond. Unfortunately, I don’t have a lot of time to reply right now, so I just have a few things and will hopefully be able to be more in-depth in the next few days…
@Elle2, I’m extremely pleased to have been able to help you see the season in a new light. What a compliment! You’ll have to let me know if you do like the first half more after re-watching it.
@Yume, I am intrigued by your theories regarding Fakie, especially with the part of Sam seeing Fakie as a part of himself. Oh, the guilt that will come with that.
@everyone else, again, thanks so much for all your kind words and great discussion and for keeping things very civil and constructive!
@Brynhild and AndreaW
I completely agree with you, both on LOTR and on the different types of heroism.
As for Swan Song, that to me perfectly illustrates how they are both heroes, and how different they are as heroes: Sam sacrificing himself, for the sake of mankind, and Dean letting him do it and supporting him, for Sam´s sake. Sam did it for the world, Dean did it for Sam (in that moment). Sam damned himself to all eternity, Dean allowed the one he loved the most to damn himself to all eternity.
How can there be competition? Nothing could be more heroic than what each of them did, each in his own way.
And Andrea, as to what you said before about the story being told from Dean´s POV: I agree, but I also think that this is part of the same thing: they have equal importance but they are different people and have different roles.
We basically get to watch Dean, who is watching Sam, who for his part is focused on himself sometimes (S1,S2, S6) and/or the bigger picture (mostly S4, S5) , and sometimes back at Dean (some S2,S3). This to me creates a perfect balance.
It wouldn´t work the other way round, because Sam is far less focused on Dean than Dean is on Sam.
Neither would splitting the POV work, I think, because that would create a fake “equality” that would upset this balance.
So this POV issue is more of the same thing to me: they are different, and of equal importance. Storywise they complement each other perfectly, and the story is as good as it is because of this balance between them, and each is shown to have equal importance to the story.
They still can´t and shouldn´t get the same “treatment” because they are different persons and different things work for their characters.
I wonder how this Lisa affair will be dealt with. I won’t lie, I don’t want her between the boys but this needs to be resolved before letting go, and it’s not. Not yet anyway. Will Sam encourage Dean to go to Lisa again? And if Dean does, how will she react? She doesn’t want a hunter with his crazy life anywhere near her son, and I can’t blame her. She’s a mother in the first place. What if she asks Dean to choose between Sam/hunting and her/Ben? Does anyone think she would be capable of that?
For the record, as a Samgirl I’m not jealous of Dean with any woman. But if by jealousy you mean jealous for the brothers’ relationship, then I plead myself guilty.
Sorry, but “the Samgirls” are not all happy with fakeSam! The “heart” of the show is the brothers relationship and for me this will never change. I have a HUGE soft spot for Sam, but Dean is the other important part of those two. There is no way around Dean, and I don`t want to find another way.
I have learned one important lesson with “souless” Sam. Maybe I felt cheated in the past, because I wanted to see more Sam talking with the antagonists, wanted to see his suffering MORE, not only Deans, wanted to know what he is thinking, feeling, wanted to escort him through his dark, scary, sad, terrible, difficult way, be with him like I could experience it with Dean, and sometimes, when I knew, we would get only a few minutes Sam time in an episode, or when we went out from the panic room with Dean in “My bloody Valentine” to witness Deans suffering, his prayers for help, the ending on Dean, I felt a little hole in my stomach, what needed to be filled with more Sam time, it happened often.
I never was sure in which direction the show would go. Sometimes in late season 4 I feared Dean would have to hunt down Sam and would team up with Castiel. So, I (as a “Sam fan”) wasn`t sure how all this would pan out.
But back to my lesson….I will never…never complain again about the lack of Sam insight or Sam POV or to little Sam in an episode (at least I hope so), BECAUSE I know now how much Sam was there WITH his whole person, with his emotions, EVERYTIME when he stood BEHIND Dean or when he was with Dean at Bobbys house or they sat together to eat, HE WAS THERE and I could feel him, I always knew, how Sam felt, I could always feel (like a barometer)his incredible, beautiful ..SOUL. I miss Sam so much I can`t tell you how much and I feel cheated, because roboSam wasn`t Sam, his essnce was missing an so back to my lesson, now I will appreciate this completely sensitive, gentle, fractured but beautiful secret inner landscape from our resouled Sammy Winchester. I will never complain about that again. That was my lesson, guys! Nothing more to say!
Thanks for this, Ardeospina! I have loved this season as much as the previous ones, and disagreed with almost everything elle2 said. In fact, her negativity was driving me away from this site. I have been going to Winchesterbros.com lately, but I may come back if you will continue to write more articles. 🙂
Kayo
I felt as upset as you last week, but now you see that the negative attitudes and opinions are not what everyone feels. There is a lot of hope here! There are a lot of people really excited about where we are heading , you are obviously one of them and so am I!
Stay here with us, we have cookies 😀
I forgot to say there are other issues I would like to see addressed , Adam, I was so pleased he was mentioned in AIS and even if he is not going to be able to `come back` I hope he gets a better end than being stuck down there for all eternity. And the big bone of contention for me ,Lisa and Ben, I get that they really cant be a permenant feature but , I just like neater loose ends I guess. I find it hard to accept the woman who said this man is amazing with her child and with whom she has spent `the best year of her life` a few weeks later will just walk away after he turns up in the middle of the night in obvious distress saying he is going to die soon. Now in view of what she already knows about his life , I think she would want some answers not only for herself but her child, I damn well would.
Arde, the way you are working at the moment I think you need to ask Santa for elastic days lasting at least 48 hours each, rest occasionally, ok? Ju
Sorry, NancyL – You are welcome to your opinion, but I have my own opinion on the matter. There is no reason, in my opinion, of course, that Dean has the capacity to love not only his brother, which is a given, but the lady who impressed him mightily while he was a teenager and he still thinks of fondly and even appears in his dreams from time to time. He lived with her and Ben for a year accepting her kindness and love and being a father to Ben. How could he not feel love now for her and Ben? He would not be the Dean I know if he didn’t. Perhaps your Dean is a different character than my Dean.
We can agree to disagree.
[I]There isn’t any such guarantee for Dean’s character. He doesn’t drive the uber plot. I’ve seen him compared on this board to Han Solo, Samwise, Dr. Watson- all secondary characters, with varying degrees of importance to the overall story.[/I]
I agree. For me being some “emotional heart” aka wind beneath the wings is never as important as the active hero that drives the plot forward. In fact, the little “inspiration” role is one that is not only easily replaceable – family member/spouse/friend/pet can all do it, take one out, bring in another – but also one that in a lot of stories is played just as well by a dead character, on screen for maybe five minutes or so.
“He/she keeps me going” – doesn’t mean he/she has a need to be in the story. As long as the Chosen One hero goes about his quest, a memory serves just as well. Actions are the only thing that counts.
As for telling someone else’s story, to me that adds insult to injury. Even the villain gets more significance than that. At least they are considered interesting and important enough to get to tell parts of their OWN story.
I mean, how utterly lame do you have to regard a character to be if all they are good for is telling the story of another character? Like an interactive voice-over? To me a character needs their own story/purpose/worth about themselves or else they are just as much a prop like any inanimate object.
So yes, I hope Death’s words to Dean mean something in the second half. Something about Dean who deserves to be more than “Sam’s brother” in this story. Even John and Mary are more than JUST “Sam’s parents”.
Even Samuel Campbell and Castiel, both more or less acting as supporting characters have their own story and worth that isn’t defined solely by Sam. Sam has never been defined solely as Dean’s brother. So I fail to see why Dean needs to be the only character in the entire show who is supposed to be nothing but Sam’s brother and never be important in the grande scheme of things completely unrelated to Sam.
If they want to create an actual duo dynamic, I’d want for them to look for Superman and Batman (two kickass heroes in their own righ) and not Superman and Jimmy Olsen (the hero and the adoring sidekick).
So far I found this Season to be rather a bust. It started out okay but grew quickly meh around episode 6 or so with ep 10 probably the worst so far. And only the latest episode brought a smidgen of hope that things get better.
@Kayo, glad that I could help keep you around! We do try to be as balanced as possible here, though we’re only human and sometimes it doesn’t work out that way. But thanks for the article encouragement! I don’t write up as much meta as I would like because I’m a bit of a magpie and get distracted by the pretty things and visuals and graphics and such, but every once in a while I’ll be able to write something more in depth.
@Julie, 48 hours a day would be great! Then maybe I could catch up on more comments, too, and not catch bits and pieces here and there…
@Sasha, very quickly, but do you think that this whole thing Death told Dean about the souls could maybe be a good opportunity for some Dean-driven mytharc stuff? I think it could be. “You’ll know when the time comes” sounds like it’s really going to be Dean figuring that issue out no matter who else helps him.
Bevie, as I said before, if everyone thought the same, we would be in Stepford, and that would be BORING. 😀
We can agree to disagree about Lisa and Dean.
No problemo.
But we can agree that SUPERNATURAL is a great show, which inspires its fans to have these great discussions.
Yes? 😀
Thanks Julie and Ardeospina! Perhaps I’m being too sensitive, but after five years of happily riding along with Sam and Dean (and Bobby and Cas), I feel a bit protective of “my boys.” Plus, I know how hard everyone connected with the show works, and I think Sera has done an admirable job so far. Anyway, I feel better; please pass the cookies. 😉
” For me being some “emotional heart” aka wind beneath the wings is never as important as the active hero that drives the plot forward.”
I certainly want to see Dean doing and being more than the prop for superhero Sam. But more than that: I want to see Sam propping Dean up emotionally for once. I want to see proof that Sam can be an emotional support for Dean. I have never felt so underinvested in the central relationship that is supposed to be the core of this show, and I think Sera Gamble has made a *huge mistake* in severing that bond so comprehensively. I still know that Dean loves Sam and is there for him 100%. But if I don’t start seeing the same in reverse from Sam, I’m just going to buckle my seat belt on the Dean-Cas bus.
I love you guys I really do – but honestly sometimes I think I watch a different show than everyone else.
I’ve been with SPN since the pilot first aired and maybe it really is just me – and from the comments this hellatus that appears to be just the thing – but I have never once felt that the show leaned TOO heavily on either of the brothers.
If you had just started watching during a certain season I could understand – S1 was about Dean’s love of family and getting everyone back to hunting together (sad it couldn’t end up that way) and from there on out (and why I fell in love with Dean) it was all about how much he loved Sam and would do anything for him. Now we see the consequences of his actions come full circle in Season 6. How brilliant was that epi with Death btw?
Then there’s Sam – Seriously I remember looking back on the seasons and thinking “Man, when is Sam going to grow up?” BAM – he grew up (No Jared, I’m not making fun of your size – hehehehe) Sam’s gotten his ass handed to him every season and for what? Because a 6 month old baby couldn’t fight off a demon? It still amazes me that there is angst over Sam’s afflictions from past seasons that still linger in fandom.
So, from my POV, the show has always been about Dean and what Dean wanted. Dean wanted Sam back in so he went and got him. Dean didn’t want Sam dead so he made a deal and brought him back. Season 5’s more memorable episodes (for me anyway) were based on Dean’s pain, Dean’s agnst with Sam, and let’s not forget that Dean gets to be bff’s with an ANGEL AND DEATH (How freakin’ cool is that!!!).
I love both guys … and I love this show. Its unique, dark, and funny as hell. It sure beats channels chocked full of reality TV, procedural cop shows, and more procedural cop shows /sigh.
Oh, and if Sam was the “hero” of the arch – Dam did he get the crap job or what? Sounds like Jensen had the better end of the script stick!
I had a problem at first with Sam this season, but quickly got over it once I caught on to what was going on with the soul thing. Then, after I sat back (and few interventions on the CBOX with Arde and the late night gals /wave) I discovered something that I had forgotten:
1. Jared channels bad in a very smexy way 😯 and I like it!
2. We tend to over think things here and there with the show and forget to just ENJOY IT
So far, Sera is doing exactly what she said she’d do – keep us on the edge of our seats, so here’s my toast to Season 6 – May we get to see Cas finally get laid!
NO WAIT – I meant to say something else but dam I just can’t remember what .. guess I’m off to order pizza .. LMAO 😛
bravo, shadow. well said! i am so on board with you and your comments on sam. thank you! sometimes i feel i’m the only one out here who remembers and still feels sam (real sam) is a sensitive, gentle and intelligent person at heart — but one who got dealt a really crummy set of cards when demon blood was introduced into his body. i always thought “swap meat” could have been a tremendous episode if they’d had dean and sam switch bodies so that each could understand the other’s POV — and experience what the other was going through.
a lot of interesting comments here. i do find the impassioned posts commenting negatively on brother or the other disheartening. the reason i came to this site was due to its respectful tone.
one compliment i have for sera and her team is, after 1/2 a season of fakie, i really, REALLY am looking forward to the return of ensouled sam. i didn’t realize what a RELIEF it would be — even just to anticipate his true return, and thus the return of an authentic, but not perfect, relationship between sam and dean. the love these two have for each other is what drew me into the SN universe — even if they still have some maturing to do in regards to how they relate to each other.
“Sometimes i feel i’m the only one out here who remembers and still feels sam (real sam) is a sensitive, gentle and intelligent person at heart — but one who got dealt a really crummy set of cards when demon blood was introduced into his body.” You’re not the only one, trust me. I thought I was. You’re not the only one to find the negative comments disheartening either, not to mention that they are such a disservice to the show. 🙁
Maybe me too I’m watching a different show than other viewers, but I never felt this show being just about Dean and his love for his family. I always read it as a journey of two different personalities and of their relationship. In a way, it can be viewed as a “love story”: the story of a brotherly love. As much as a research for each one of the chararcters about their place in the world AND in this relationship.
Since I started to watch, I EVER felt Sam’s emotions too and I never had a problem to understand his thoughts or fears or intentions or scopes. So the fact of Dean being the emotional POV of the show doesn’t mean, for me, that Sam’s POV was ever dismissed. And about Sam being the emotional support for Dean… well, he ever was for ALL Season Three, and he was there again when Dean needed him when he recalled Hell’s experience, despite the fact that afterwards the things between them went rather bad, and when Dean was losing his hope in Season 5 Sam was there again, giving him his trust and faith.
So I always saw this relationship as a mutual exchange: sometimes one of them is more needing of support (emotional or physical) than the other, but the next time the roles were reversed. There never was the “Strong One” and the “Weak One”, the “Sensitive One” and the “Tough One”, the “Selfless One” and the “Self-centered One”, because each of them was so, each one in his turn and when the situation (of the characters and of the story) justified it.
The individual differences between the brothers’ personality explain their actions and choices facing the different situations, as well as their individual evolution: one (of the many) thing that I truly appreciate of this show is that the characters are always evolving, there’s no way that their experiences (and SUCH experiences!) are not affecting them in one way or another. So I can utterly understand why the Season 4 Sam is NOT the Season 1 Sam, and I dont’ call that “being OOC”, but rather “becoming who he is NOW” due to all the experiences he faced, filtered through his personality. The same is for Dean. And I found almost every evolution change in their personality and behaviour well done, logical and consistent with their story.
This “psychological evolution consistency” is for me much more important than to maintain some particularly beloved characteristic of them or of their relationship. I couldn’t stand a show where the characters are always the same, no matter what they went through. So I welcome the change (in the characters and in their relationship), when it is well managed and justified and consistent, even when it breaks my heart (like it did in S4 or in some of the S5 or in this Season).
Hi Ardeospina
I’m very late for the party here. Damn real life, seems to always get in the way.
Thank you for this uplifting article. As one of the commenters mentioned, it makes a great companion to Elle2’s.
It’s wonderful that so many have loved what has been brought to the screen and loving the Mystery Tour. I love that there is still a positive outlook on the season.
I have been very intrigued by the storylines brought to the table, Castiel and his civil war in heaven, Crowley and the Alpha’s, Balthazar and his soul search, Grandaddy eyebrows( thanks Suze I love that description) and family.
The only thing that I was disappointed about this season is the tampering of the brothers relationship. If this had been the first season where the relationship was being jeopardised, I would have been on board with it all. But with this being now the third season, I just didn’t want to have to go through this again.
I in no way expected to see the same relationship as in seasons 1- 3.
I knew there would be some angst and tense moments between them. But what I was expecting was to see two mature, grown men working as an equal team.
I was also really worried that the writers were going to bring Sam’s character to such a low that he was never going to be forgiven. I’m so protective of these characters that I just hate to see either one being looked at in a negative way.
I know it’s only a show, but never before have I felt such a strong emotional bond and affection for two fictional characters.
As for the Sam vs Dean, I have to say I’ve never seen one character being diminished over the other. Or one being considered more important than other.
I would have to say that I’m in agreement with Brynhild’s comments. I feel she summed it up beautifully.
Brynhild, wonderfully put. Thank you for summoning it up like this!
(sorry about my alias, I’m at work, can’t log in at present – this is Jasminka calling)
🙂 Jas
Thank you Jasminka, you’re too kind! 😳
I’m not english-speaking, so I’m always afraid to not make myself clear enough…
*You’re not the only one to find the negative comments disheartening either, not to mention that they are such a disservice to the show.*
IMO, “negative comments†are what hopefully cause the writers to take stock of how they might be failing their audience this season. It isn’t doing the show a “disservice†to state opinions and point out plotholes, of which there have been so many this season as to make it glaringly obvious to many fans that this show’s creative team seems to think we’re stupid.
I just took a look at some of the season 4 episode reviews and articles. Many of the same people who are on here accusing those of us who want more for Dean of being “negative†and doing the show a “disservice†were posting very similar comments to us in season 4, only they were posting them in respect of Sam’s storyline. How ironic.
So the shoe is on the other foot now, right Anne J? If you think there’s not enough Dean in Season 6, then you know how Sam fans felt back in Season 4.
I am not complaining about the lack of Dean in Season 6 but I do remember the complaints in Season 4 about the lack of Sam. In Season 6 I keep hearing complaints about Dean asking Sam if he is alright every single episode.
I think the Season 4 (not enough Sam) was due to the same philosophy on the part of the writers. They seem to think we viewers will forget from one episode to the next an important plot point so they hit us over the head with it.
In Season 4 this meant Sam sneaking out on Dean all the time – lest we forget he was up to something behind Dean’s back. The only problem with that was the need to keep the big surprise/reveal until the end of the season – so we couldn’t see what Sam and Ruby were doing. That meant not as much Sam on the screen. If they’d been willing to cut down on disappearing Sam – I’m sure we are intelligent enough to get the message without having to see him leave the room and drive off with Ruby all the time – we would have had a lot more Sam in the episodes.
Since he was driving the plot of drinking blood trying to get strong enough to kill Lilith we didn’t get him on screen like we would have otherwise. It is a shame that the writers big reveal was left so late in the season and thus a disservice was done to the character during the wait because of their rinse and repeat philosophy of explaining a point.
@Robijean, so we agree about the lack of Sam and the disservice made to the character in season 4, whatever the reasons. It’s reassuring that someone else noticed that. I know from other posts that you’re more of a Dean fan, so I congratulate you on your impartiality about this (controversial) subject.
For the record, I don’t believe that the writing team thinks we’re “stupid”. Does that mean that those of us who are enjoying season 6 are stupid? And how can we talk about plot holes when the season is only halfway through? How do we know that the “plot holes” won’t be filled in?
*So the shoe is on the other foot now, right Anne J? If you think there’s not enough Dean in Season 6, then you know how Sam fans felt back in Season 4.*
Yes. And my point was that you seemed to think that commenting negatively about it wasn’t doing the show a disservice then, when it was Sam who wasn’t getting the storyline Samfans such as yourself had hoped for. Yet now, all of a sudden, when it’s Dean, it is doing the show a disservice.
And for the record, I also felt, and commented about, the lack of Sam insight in season 4.
@AndreaW, Actually I am enjoying Season 6 myself. I don’t see anymore plot holes than usual. And Supernatural usually does a pretty good idea of filling those in before the season ends. I like the noir aspect of the season and the many twists and turns of the multiple plot lines. I’m a great mystery reader and like the way this season is making me ask questions about what’s coming next, etc.
Just saying what I felt about Season 4 and Sam’s absence. I’m not saying the writers think we are stupid it just feels that way when they get too repetitious with a plot point. Sam’s sneaking around in Season 4, Dean’s constant asking Sam if he’s alright and when he found out he was without a soul, his question just changes to whether he still wants it back.
I second & third Karen’s & Brynhild’s sentiments.
Now that Sam has been resouled, I am looking forward to the brothers’ relationship being repaired. I don’t expect it to be easy or quick; we do love that Winchester angst!
Sure, I’ve had lots of questions about & quibbles with plot points ( I was thrilled too, Ardeospina, to finally have some mention of Adam, & his “fate” still needs to be resolved) but the quality of the acting & production of the show has never wavered & continues to amaze me.
Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays to all!
I plan to celebrate my Christmas Eve with family, then top it off by watching my Winchesters on TV, repeat or not!
You know, I actually LOVED Sam’s storyline in season four. Dean’s too. Just like I love Dean’s storyline in season six. Granted I’m not at all pleased with Sam’s story line in season six, and I think Dean’s storyline in season five got short changed. Since season three, it’s been a lot of back and forth and momentum shifts with the characters. I think the writers know this. I really think so far (although I need to see the rest of the season to make full judgment) the story plotting is the real weakness.
If anything has changed this season for me, I’m way more of a Dean fan this season than a Sam one. With Sam’s soul back though, I’m hoping to get some serious bi-bro time going. And more Castiel please!
@Robijean, yes, the noir feeling and the twists and multiple plot lines are what I find interesting and refreshing about this season. You didn’t call anyone stupid; I wasn’t talking about you. But other people did.
@Anne J. You can complain about the lack of Dean and the plotline like you wish. I did about the lack of Sam in season 4, when we had the Dean/Castiel show with a guest appearance by Jared Padalecki as the troublemaker little brother. Everyone is intitled to their opinion. By negative comments, I mean extreme bitterness and aggressive tone wich, YES, are a disservice to the show and all the professionals involved that work very hard. This applies to “Sam fans like me” too.
First off: I love this website! I just found it a few days ago and now find myself reading on here for about 3 days straight. One thing that drove me to this site is the fact that, usually, there is no bro vs bro fight going on here (or maybe I simply didn’t read enough just yet :P) and this is what made me write a comment now…
I, personally, see myself as neither a “Sam-girl”, nor a “Dean-girl”, I’m a “Supernatural-girl”! Thing is; I usually fall for the typical bad boy, which would be Dean I guess (also he’s got a stunning resemblance to a former bf of mine, looks, way of talking, mimics and gestures) but for some reason I developed a soft spot for Sam (which is not least to blame on Jared^^). But one way or another I never had a reason to complain about one of the brothers not getting enough screentime, attention or anything. Because if one wasn’t there, there other one was and that’s good enough for me. Those two are a team, they belong together and neither can live without the other. That’s the heart and soul (no pun intended) of the show. The brotherly love. So maybe, and I really never saw that or it simply never bothered me, sometimes one of them was more in the focus than the other. So what?! In the end both are important and the writers always made up to the other fandom when one of the boys was more the center of attention.
And before I forget that thought:
How is Dean a second character? How is Sam the “hero” of the show and Dean is only there to hold his hand? How is it Sam being center of the mytharc? Wasn’t it Dean who was supposed to be Michaels vessel? Who had to stop the apocalypse? Who has been hunted by angels AND demons? Who, in the end, had to choose whether he wants to follow his so called destiny or jump on the free-will-bus? Those kind of decisions are not made by a second rate character but by a hero.
Wasn’t it Dean who, most recently, got a lesson taught by Death himself? And those kind of lessons, too, are not for second rate characters but for heros to develop their strength.
Also I never saw Dean as “wind underneath Sam’s wings”, if at all he’s the one always pulling Sam back down to earth and face the truth, face what’s right or wrong. Just imagine what could have happened if Dean wasn’t there to tell Sam what to do or make him see how things are? Sam would have turned evil. For forever.
I also read comments saying “the Sam girls are happy with the 6th season and the Dean girls are not bc it’s all about Sam” (same goes the other way around for season 4). I’m sorry, I don’t see it. And with me being more or less of a Sam girl, if you will (because I got a soft spot for Sam), I can say that I, too, am disappointed with this season so far. But that has nothing to do with Sam being more in focus or Dean being more in focus or Sam’s absence (and that’s a fact. We didn’t see Sam, the real Sam, this whole half of the season at all). It’s because of those loose ends, that inconsequence of following plotlines, the lack of a yellow brickroad to follow. We don’t know what is going on, we don’t know where this is all going and I don’t like that. I don’t like being kept in the dark with no idea what is lurking out here, without many hints to speculate. Then again, this is only my opinion or my feelings about it. There have been really good points made saying that exactly this is the whole mystery and enjoyment of that new season. It does make sense looking at it from that angle and it’s actually motivating to at least try to see it that way, yet I, personally, don’t like it that much. But, again, that’s just my own feelings.
I did enjoy RoboSam for some time, he’s funny in a weird way (probably the lack of emotional responses to certain events) and he’s dangerous and creepy which gives the actor a lot to play with and it’s fun to watch. But I miss Sam. The real Sam. And it breaks my heart seeing Dean missing Sam too. So I’m glad that the soul is back and we’ll have to sit and wait and see what is going to happen next. I, too, found myself losing faith in the show… untill AiS. There is light at the end of the tunnel (lol). There is purgatory, which, I’m sure, will still be a major plot, then the souls, which, I think, won’t only be important but directly linked to purgatory, then we have all those Alphas forming armys, then there’s this civilwar in heaven (and I’m thinking that the Teenage Mutant Ninja Angel is the big bad puppetmaster now, pulling the strings of his minions like Crowley) and then we have our beloved brothers who would die for each other (and did) and will be back on track of brotherly love and friendship. Maybe not like it used to be but more grown up, more honest (hopefully).
Phew! This got a lot longer than I expected…
And last but not least: Sorry for my english. It’s not my mother tongue.^^
Good article. I’m probably at the same place you are. There are parts I love about season 6 and parts I’m having problems with. I love the way the overall storyline has been set up with post-war chaos in Heaven, Hell, and monsterville. The aftermath feels realistic, and there’s so much potential for another couple of seasons. I like that they’re bringing the focus back to the boys again. Sam and Dean are human, so I’d like to see more of the shows start introducing interesting humans again, like they did in the first few seasons, rather than most of the secondary characters being angels, demons, and other creatures.
I’m not finding Fakie or the debate about his rights interesting at all. He’s a walking, talking corpse and the real Sam was somewhere else. I’m finding the fact that he’s developing a sort of ego unbelievable and see it as a flaw in the writing. That is, unless it turns out that there’s some other creature inside that body – maybe a parasite from Hell the boys haven’t encountered before, or maybe a byproduct of the demon blood. I think the comment by Sam that he doesn’t feel fear was a continuity error, because shortly after that episode Sam started being written as more of an animal – like my cat on a hunt – all primal instincts and emotions that clearly include fear. Most fear is about danger to oneself, so the comment that he’s a better hunter because he doesn’t feel fear makes no sense.
I’m not sure I get the comments about Dean being left out of the mythic arc (not in this article but mostly in the other one). They seem to be missing the point that the whole mythic destiny was a sham. Sam had faith and believed in angels but was considered an abomination by God. Dean was said to be chosen and was meant to kill Lileth, but it turned out that killing Lileth was a bad thing. Both brothers unknowingly contributed to breaking the seals and both helped defeat the Apocolypse, save the world, prevent paradise on earth, and turn heaven and hell upside down.
I have a ton of unanswered questions from the season so far and think that most of the answers we’ve gotten have been half answers, so I’m not ready to scream bad writing yet. I’m loving the mystery so far, but if plot points go nowhere, then I’ll be disappointed. We’ll see.
@Aivien and cd28, I loved your comments. I appreciated your points of view about season 6, despite the fact that I don’t share them. I’m one of the people who are enjoying this season precisely because of the mystery and surprise elements. You don’t know where you’re going and that’s what I find fascinating. But your criticism was made in a polite and balanced way, and that kind of criticism is always welcome. It demonstrates once more how it’s perfectly possible to express disagreement without resourcing to insults and personal attacks. I hope to read more of you two. 😉 🙂