Supernatural: Keep Your Friends Close…

There are quite a few characters that I am dearly looking forward to seeing return in Supernatural’s season 10, but am fairly certain I’ll have to settle for the “in one form or another” for most of them.

****Spoiler alert*** Season 10 is fast approaching, and with it the 200^th episode which promises to include, in one form or another, every character that has had an impact on the show.  Aside from that promise is the promise that Sheriff Mills will return as will Charlie.  Both those characters I adore, so I’m eager to see them again. ***end spoiler***

As much as I love the central focus of the show being about two brothers, they are most interesting when they have some familiar people to interact with from time to time.  Sadly, too many of those people have been dismissed, many to a good purpose as they served a dramatic moment in the show. John’s death to save Dean directly influenced Dean’s decision to sacrifice for Sam, which led to the introduction of angels and the breaking of seals and the rise of Lucifer.  Ellen and Jo died heroically giving Sam and Dean an escape to take a shot, literally, at the devil.  Pamela died guarding the boys’ bodies as their spirits traveled through the veil to save a seal. 

Some deaths were utterly pointless, Bobby and Rufus are the two that come quickest to mind.

Both characters could have served to ebb and flow in and out of the boys’ universe.  While the Men of Letters bunker is enjoyable as the boys’ home Bobby would have served well in moving in there also.  He was a bit of a ‘command central’ for hunters out of his house.  He could have moved his base of operations to the bunker and not made it seem crowded.  He easily could be on the road at times, as the boys often are and not been in every episode or scene, and it was stated that the MOL bunker has a command central of a sorts for hunters, so in the past, hunters were directed from that bunker.

Supernatural has made it possible to bring some of these characters back for an episode or two, the ones that have died, and for the most part their returns have been successful.  While “Taxi Driver” was a hash of many things, particularly canon in regards to reapers, hell, purgatory, just to name a few, it did give us Jim Beaver and Jared Padalecki sharing the screen again.  That will always win for me.  Having him return to play one side of Sam’s subconscious was also quite brilliant.  My favorite return of a dead character remains Ash in Season 4’s “Dark Side of the Moon”.  Ash was only ever in a handful of episodes but he made quite the lasting impression.  His return made sense, rather than just inserting him into the episode, and because he had a relationship with the brothers already, his presence allowed them to explore some of the other characters they knew in common which simply expands their universe beyond each other.

Recurring characters expand the characterizations of Sam and Dean because we interact differently with different people based on our commonalities.  Ellen and Jo were a link not only to hunting but to John.  That made them instantly important in Sam and Dean’s lives, especially since John’s death was barely a week old.  Suddenly they found a part of their father they never knew.  I think that’s one of the reasons Ellen especially resonated with the brothers so easily.

Bobby, well he was uncle Bobby, so his link to the brothers went way back into their childhood.  He was their uncle, their safe haven, their go-to for research assistance, their surrogate father.  His loss will never be overcome, just as the loss of their mother, their father, and to Sam, Jessica, will never be overcome.

Jodi Mills has quite a history with Sam and Dean in just the few episodes she’s been in.  She is a link to Bobby for one, and she is what Henricksen could have become, a link to the ‘real world’ and a bridge to the supernatural world.  She can provide a bit of cover when necessary (Weekend at Bobby’s) and can sniff out a case and send the boys off on a hunt (Time After Time).   I also enjoy her interactions with Sam, who she has spent most of her time with during her appearances, when not working with Bobby.  It was Sam who first guided her into the supernatural realm in “Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid” when he saved her from her zombie son, and then they banded together to save Dean and Bobby.  It was Sam and Sheriff Mill who teamed up to save Dean not only from Chronos but also when they infiltrated the chastity group (although she couldn’t save them from the awfulness of the episode, but that would be a writing issue rather than a character issue.)

While I enjoy the central focus of Supernatural staying on the brothers, and angel wars bore me – although I still love Castiel—I enjoy watching the brothers interact with other characters because those other characters bring out elements of the brothers that they don’t often share.  It was Gordon Walker (psychopath to be sure) that Dean opened up to after John’s death.  Sure, Sam knew exactly how bad Dean’s suffering was, and even echoed Dean’s conversation to Gordon a few scenes later, but Dean shared his emotional baggage with Gordon.  Dean bonded with Henricksen in “Jus In Bello” as their nemesis became their ally and the two realized they had a lot more in common than either had thought. 

Having Charlie read the Carver Edlund books was genius because, similar to Metatron downloading every literature and theatrical, movie, television, song ever created into Castiel’s brain so he now understands pop references, Charlie knows every detail of Sam and Dean’s lives; their loves, their losses, their sacrifices…everything.  It rapidly, and somewhat ingeniously without stretching canon, levels the playing field and she can relate to the brothers with a full understanding of who they are and what they have endured to get to where they are.  Thus, when she shares something with them, such as her chastisement to Dean in “Slumber Party” about lying to Sam, she knows full well that this will end badly.  Not simply because lies always destroy, but because she knows that the brothers have been down this road before and it has never ended well.

There have been other characters too numerous to discuss here.  I chose to focus on the ones that I believed had the greatest impact on the brothers.  Sure, Kevin was a major player for parts of three seasons; however, he was more utilitarian than he was relational.  His only true relational part occurred in Captives, but by then he was already a ghost.  Kevin served a particular storyline, nothing more.  I mean absolutely no insult or slight or anything negative to Osric Chau, because he was very good in the role, but I hope that tablet storyline is over.  Chuck was loads of fun because he wasn’t overused.  Kevin was a bit more overused in a fairly thin storyline that went on a bit too long.  No more prophets please. 

Garth was a bit of fun and I liked the idea of him out ‘there’ hunting.  Too bad somebody thought to make him into a monster and then make it… well, whatever Sharp Teeth made it.  There have been some other characters, such as Aaron from Everyone Hates Hitler who I hope to see again.  They’re out there, and bringing them back from time to time can work.  The much-polarizing Ghostfacers have been reintegrated time to time, brilliantly in “It’s a Terrible Life”, and they remind us the viewers of some of the simpler times in Sam and Dean’s lives, as well as allow the brothers to revisit those past times, if only in their memories.  It keeps the characters richly layered with the history of the show, rather than simply closing a chapter at the end of a season and moving on.  Events that occurred along the way can be revisited by the appearance of a familiar face. 

There are some characters I’m glad have been forgotten, even as it leaves nasty threads dangling.  Adam is all but forgotten, except at conventions, stuck with Lucifer and Michael in the cage.  Sorry, Adam.  I think (my theory only) that had Kripke not needed to rethink his ending in Season 5, Adam would likely never have been seen again post- “Point of No Return”.  I enjoyed Jump the Shark more than I thought I would, and didn’t mind Adam’s part in “Point of No Return” since it all turned out to be a ploy to get Dean in the Green Room.  However, allowing Adam to become Michael’s vessel simply cheapened that entire storyline that had been so carefully built.  Sam was only ever Lucifer’s vessel, but apparently Michael could inhabit young John, Adam, and Dean…had Dean ever said yes.  Um, no.

I liked Bela well enough and thought her arc was very well-done, even as it was a course correction after veering too far off course with her.  She was fun in “Bad Day At Black Rock” but then got out of hand as she one-upped the boys time and time again.  Having her tied to Lilith and a deal with a cross roads demon and sending her to hell was a wonderful pre-echo for Dean’s own hell-bound journey.  She may have been a manipulative so and so, but in the end, she faced her demise straight on, and how she lived:  alone.

I’d love to see Chuck again as well as John and Mary and Bobby and Ash and…I could go on.  If I’m honest, however, I only want to see them if the story organically makes sense for them to return.  Cramming them into a storyline (Tessa!) simply to cram a character into the storyline isn’t what I want.  A dream journey similar to “What Is and What Should Never Be” allows long-gone characters an organic re-entry, as did “My Heart Will Go On” (Bobby and Ellen married!), and, of course, Ash and Pamela in “Dark Side of the Moon”. 

Season 9 even saw the beloved Trickster/Gabriel return after four years, and Fangasm has a fascinating interview with Richard Speight, Jr. on why we should believe the Trickster is well and truly still alive.  All those returns, plus the trips back into time, are fun ways to return beloved characters.  I hope in Season 10 we see a few more of those types of appearances.  And yes, feel free to introduce us to some new characters, friend or foe.  Sam and Dean are great characters on their own, but they become richer and more deeply layered when they are given a chance to make a friend or two, or even an enemy.

And enemies are the focus of my next article, a companion of sorts to this.  I titled this one “Keep Your Friends Close…”, and the next one will be, “…And Your Enemies Closer”.

As always, thanks for reading, Elle2