RearView Review: Supernatural 10.05 “Fan Fiction”
“Fan Fiction” Season 10 Episode 5
Written by Robbie Thompson
Directed by Phil Sgriccia
Airdate: November 11, 2014
By Wednesday
“Will BROTHERLY love triumph over the DARK POWERS of EVIL?”
“*Meta Fiction is when a TV show comments on its own fiction and/or other pieces of fiction”
“*A Straw Fan is a plot of a thinly veiled attack on fans and theircomplaints about the work.”
(TWEET: Misha Collins: feel like I’m in a Transformative Media graduate seminar.
This canonical diatribe is a lot to chew on.)
This episode is *MetaMetafiction. Robbie Thompson’s script comments on SPN’S scripts and FanFic writings.
Marie comments on FanFic and SPN’s writing. Both views are inserted into the story.
The stage play is a parody of the first Five Seasons.
The Second Act, or the direction of the next five seasons,
and the fandoms demands for it, are satirized by Robbie Thompson.
PLOT/CHARACTERS
A ghost descends in front of a girl who screams. She’s on stage rehearsing the play “Supernatural.”
Actresses Maggie (Natalie Sharp) and Siobhan (Alyssa Lynch) enter playing Sam and Dean Winchester.
Marie (Katie Sarife) yells, “Cut!” Marie approaches Siobhan with Maeve (Joy Regullano) at her heels.
Marie is furious with Siobhan for not wearing the Samulet.
Siobhan defends herself saying the Samulet keeps hitting her in the mouth.(True story)
This infuriates Slash Marie even more. She shoves SiobhanDean.
Ms. Chandler (Alberta Mayne) has had enough of this “Crap show.”
She’s done.
“There’s too much drama in the drama department.”
She’s cancelling the show despite Marie’s pleading.
You have entered the Fandom of Supernatural where the characters represent specific fans.
Ms. Chandler: drop the ‘C’ and you have ‘MisHandler,’ or ‘Handler’. She represents the older demographic of the fandom.
The “convention goer” with her phone keeping her connected. Divorced. Drinks too much.
She also portrays Sam’s character in her play.
Maeve: (Name, somewhat pagan, means ‘she who intoxicates.’)
Represents the Techie/ Meta fandom who support FanFic.
Maggie: Anagram for IMAGE. She represents fans who insist on following Canon.
This Canon Fan also portrays Sam in the play.
Siobhan: “Feminine for John: notably the Legendary Pope Joan, ‘a woman masquerading as a man’”
Siobhan plays Dean in the play, and has a love relationship with cast member,
KristenCastiel (Nina Winkler)
If Siobhan and Maggie are Dean and Sam. Who are Dean and Sam?
They become *MetaGuys
*MetaGuy: The role a character takes when questioning various aspects of their own show.
Sam:MetaGuy Jared representing Jared Padalecki & SPN
Dean:MetaGuy Ackles representing Jensen Ackles & SPN
While Ms. Chandler storms off, drinking from a flask,
she complains on her phone about the lack of realism in Supernatural and calls the girls “skanks.”
Distracted by a noise, Ms. Chandler peers at the bushes which animate, snaking around her and pulling her upwards.
All that remains is her phone and a rejected purple starflower.
Marie and Maeve press on with the rehearsal and critique their Title Card which needs more “KKKKrrrrrr!”
Past Title Cards of SPN appear including “Time for a Wedding” (Crazy Fan Becky) and “Metatron.”
(TWEET: Kim Rhodes: @curtisisbooger I WAS TOLD THIS WAS A METATRON EPISODE!!!
#meta #supernatural)
There are some fans who complain that there’s not enough Eye-Candy. This scene makes up for that.
Brace yourself.
Isn’t Baby looking good under the hood? Pristine! Great shot.
(Nice GREASE allusion, too)
Oh, but wait for it, there’s a “booty” shot, too.
(It’s been noted that MetaGuy Ackles mouths the words, “This is stupid.” While looking under the hood.
See for yourself here: http://spnfans.tumblr.com/post/102562494599 )
Gordon Lightfoot’s “Sundown” song plays. ♪ Sundown, you better take care ♪♪ If I find you been creepin’ ’round my back stairs ♪♪
Used here, the song introduces the Creeper Fan: an unhinged fan who tries to get too close to the object of their affections,
or Fans who stalk, creep and harass in a deranged bid to be noticed.
The camera slides into Baby’s trunk and the Point Of View is from inside the trunk.
(Did a fan ever hide in Baby’s trunk? Dark and creepy.)
MetaGuy Jared enters from Room 200. MetaGuy Ackles has a job: the missing Ms. Chandler.
“We got work to do.”
He says slamming us all in the trunk.
Arriving at the Pink and Blue all girls’ School, MetaGuy Jared learns Ms. Chandler is a Drama teacher.
He remembers past tech experience.
(True that. We are getting MetaGuys.)
(TWEET: JarPad: Fun fact: I did a little bit of tech when I was in high school,
just like Sam. It was my first paying job.”)
The MetaGuys don’t notice the signs advertising the Supernatural Musical, or the St. Alphonso’s $2.00 Pancake Breakfast
linking to, “St. Alfonzo’s Pancake Breakfast” by Frank Zappa. Principal Salazar escorts them and vanishes OFF forever.
Entering the gym, the MetaGuys hear, “Idjits,” and “assbutt and SiobhanDean singing “The Road So Far.” >“
What in the holy…?”

(Why isn’t he upset by his burning mother? He’s not Dean. He’s MetaGuy Ackles critiquing the show.)
He’s comforted to learn that there is some “classic rock” and MetaGuy Jared wisely foregoes the usual rock star alias.
Marie and Maeve diss Ms. Chandler, “She had a nasty divorce, last year. Most of the time, she’s sipping on her,
uh, grown-up juice,or passed out. Usually, in that order.”
MetaGuy Ackles understands and comments on FanFiction,
“Yeah, well, I don’t blame her. I’m gonna need fifty jello shots and a hose-down to get this
stink off me.”
They agree to split. The MetaGuys have a quick moment.
MetaGuy Ackles: I’m gonna throw up. MetaGuy Jared: I mean, I gotta say, it’s kind of charming.
The production value, and the… No ?
MetaGuy Ackles inspects the props and touches even though he’s instructed not to.
Marie grabs the rifle from his hands.
(TWEET: RyanCurtis: Btw. The face that the director makes when Dean touches props
is exactly like our prop girl when I touch things.”)
MetaGuy Ackles notices the rehearsal of the B.M. scene and asks,
“Why are they standing so close together? You know they’re brothers, right?”
Slash Marie responds, <“Well, duh! But… Subtext.”
Action Ackles directs them, “Why don’t you take some sub steps back there, ladies?”
In the control room, Jared launches into a story about being a Tech, but Maeve leaves for a delivery,
instructing him not to touch; but, of course, he ignores this.
Slash Marie and MetaGuy Ackles are in Ms. Chandler’s office amid “a pile of empty bottles and regret” and Misha’s robot head.
Marie reveals it’s a prop for Act Two. “There’s no space in Supernatural.” MetaGuy Ackles grouches.
But, this is transformative Fan Fiction attempting to carry on Carver Edlund’s books, fixing the plot holes:

MetaGuy Ackles is distracted by SiobhanDean kissing KristenCastiel. Marie informs him it’s not in her show.
“Siobhan and Kristen are a couple in real life. Although, we do explore the nature of Destiel in act two.”
MetaGuy Ackles asks, “Sorry, what?”
Marie assures him “it’s just subtext! But, then again, you know, you can’t spell subtext without s-e-x.”
MetaGuy Ackles *Breaks the Fourth Wall. (MetaGuys are allowed.)
(TWEET: Jensen Ackles: Hey all you “FanFic” writers out there…that look into the camera wasn’t scripted.
Just sayin. #WinkWink)
MetaGuy Ackles is offended, while MetaGuy Jared jokingly tries to understand the pairings,
and the pronunciation. MetaGuy Ackles clearly doesn’t approve giving his perspective of Slash Fiction and SPN’s.
He reminds everyone of the number one rule of Slash Fiction: “Don’t talk about it.”
He asserts, “Ok, all right. You know what ? You’re gonna do that thing, where you just shut the hell up. Forever!”
Slash Marie and Canon Fan Maggie argue. Maggie’s done, “Everyone else is willing to follow your little dictatorship.
But not me. I’ve been telling you all along, Marie. If it’s not canon, then it shouldn’t be in the show.
You know, we should’ve done The Outsiders, like I told you.” (Shout out to S.E. Hinton SPN Super Fan!)
Marie begs her to stay but Maggie stomps off straight into the arms of a gargantuan Scarecrow.
Marie witnesses it. All that remains is a fallen purple starflower.
The MetaGuys reveal themselves to Marie and Maeve who laugh incredulously.
They’re more willing to “believe” in X Files Agents. Marie guesses it might be
a “Tulpa.” While MetaGuy Jared and Maeve, the Meta, do further research, MetaGuy
Ackles and Marie go down into the basement where the *StrawMan hides.
MetaGuy Ackles doesn’t find the *StrawMan the least
bit scary, having been behind the scenes awhile; but, Marie’s clearly
threatened by it. They burn the *StrawMan.
Returning, MetaGuy Jared informs them, “It is not a Tulpa.”
MetaGuy Ackles critiques the way this line was delivered. It should be, “just a little bit more Arnold.”
MetaGuy Jared reveals that Calliope , the epic muse, is behind it all. She uses “manifestations, like the Scarecrow, to
inspire the author, and protect them, until their vision’s realized” and
then she consumes the author.
Calliope: is representational of the powers capable of
shutting down Supernatural. The Network & Production Company.
Stars literally cling to her feet. She consumes
and hoards creative talents.
Scarecrow: THE RATINGS. A tool used by Calliope to shut down the show.
Marie hyperventilates into a paper bag.
MetaGuy Jared bows out to get some “stakes” leaving MetaGuy Ackles to give Marie a pep talk.
He assures her that her play’s “not dumb.”
Confused, Maeve notes, “I thought you didn’t believe in this interpretation?”
MetaGuy Ackles clarifies, “I don’t. Look, like, at all. But you do.
Ok? And I need you to believe in it with all you got.
So that we can kill Calliope, and we can save your friends. Can you do that?
Marie rallies, inspired by the Winchesters, and rudely reveals herself to be a
SamGirl, “Especially my sweet, brave, selfless Sam. There’s nothing he can’t do.”
MetaGuy Ackles is crushed.
(Identifying as a SamGirl or DeanGirl must be cruel from the actors’ perspective.)
Marie will become actor, writer, and director like Barbara, in a world where it’s highly improbable.
The players assemble for a pep talk.
MetaGuy Ackles asks about Chuck and both actors and fans agree:
they hate episodes where the writer inserts himself. Boom!
MetaGuy Ackles turns Kristen/Castiel’s tie around and directs the players:
“I know I have expressed some differences of opinion, regarding this particular version of Supernatural.
But tonight, it is all about Marie’s vision. This is Marie’s Supernatural. So, I want you to get out there,
and I want you to stand as close as she wants you to, and I want you to put in as much sub and text,
as you possibly can.”
The actresses rally with a Ghostfacers’ gesture while the MetaGuys roll eyes.
The play begins with the song, ♪ “The Road so Far”♪
The MetaGuys, enjoying music to burn mom by, lookout for the Scarecrow.
MetaGuy Ackles tries to warn MetaGuy Jared of the Scarecrow, but he’s too late.
MetaGuy Jared vanishes. He wakes up in the basement looking at Fan legs.
Calliope appears to bully and shove MetaGuy Jared around.
On stage Kristen/Castiel enchants the audience with ♪ “That’s what I’ll
do. I’ll just wait here, then.”♫
MetaGuy Ackles works frantically behind the scenes.
Calliope informs MetaGuy Jared that she cannot abide the Second act. Calliope
She realizes that Supernatural has it all. “Life. Death. Resurrection.
Redemption. But above all, family. All sorts of music you can really tap your
toe to. It isn’t some meandering piece of genre dreck. It’s epic!”
Siobhan/Dean sings,♫ A single man tear That’s all we fear ♪
while MetaGuy Ackles gets his butt kicked fighting the Scarecrow with the small “stake” that fails.
He raises a huge “stake” from the stage but the Scarecrow snaps it in half.
Down in the basement, Canon Fan Maggie takes the Epic Factor and weighs
in on Calliope’s head, while Convention Fan, Ms. Chandler gives MetaGuy Jared a
small “stake” for the kill shot.
On stage MetaGuy Ackles is down.
Slash MarieSam rescues the small “stake” and charges the Scarecrow yelling,
“No chick flick moments.” (Oh, the irony.)
The Scarecrow pauses a moment, as does Calliope in the basement.
Then BOOM! The purple goo of creativity splatters the happy audience.
MetaGuy Ackles tells MarieSam to take a bow, upstaging them when he joins in.
Later, MetaGuy Ackles tells Marie its
“been educational. Seeing the story from your perspective. You keep writing,Shakespeare.”
Marie asks if she should write “even if it doesn’t match how you see it?”
MetaGuy Ackles re-emphasizes, “I have my version, and you have yours.”
Marie recognizes Dean and gives him the amulet saying,
“You never should’ve thrown this away.”
MetaGuy Ackles argues, “It never really worked. And, I don’t need a symbol to remind me how I
feel about my brother, so…”
Slash Marie insists, “Just take it. Jerk!”
MetaGuy Ackles instantly responds with “Bitch!”
There’s an awkward moment.
MetaGuy Ackles concedes on the amulet issue and returns to MetaGuy Jared saying,
“Well, I guess we can go back at staring at motel room walls.”

They sing ♪“Carry on My Wayward Son.” ♫
The MetaGuys’ reaction is real.
share another smile while Baby cruises into the sunset.
Maeve interrupts Slash Marie basking in adulation and attention. A publisher is there. It’s Chuck.
Chuck Shurley: represents the Writers of the Show:
Chuck’s pen name “Carver Edlund” is a portmanteau of Jeremy Carver and Ben Edlund.
Also, Chuck Shurley is an AVATAR for Kripke.
The writers are like God because they can make anything happen, or not.
They are the gods of Supernatural.
Slash Marie is dying to know.
“I know the second act is a little bit wanky, and the first act has some issues, but what did you think?”
Chuck/God/SPN Writers respond “Not bad.”
SCRIPT
This script was definitely *Pandering to the FanBase. But which fans? There are millions of Supernatural fans.
Not all of them Ship or write Slash Fiction. Not all of them are high school girls, or even female.
In addition to the ones mentioned, there was silent nod to Cosplayers and some behind the scenes Artists.
The noisy petulant voices of the Fandom Minority was pandered to.
There exists within this Fandom, MALES.
Why have an all-girls school? There are a great many fans who hate Slash FanFic,
and a number who never even heard of it until this show aired.
(TWEET: Lauren Tom: This is So funny. #Destiel they’re getting everything in this script!
#SPN200thEpisode @OsricChau had to explain the whole ‘ship’ thing 2 me.”
The competition to be noticed within any Fandom causes some Fans to do anything, negative or perverse, simply to be noticed.
When Looney Fans are rewarded with recognition, it fuels more Fans to do the same.
Taking the time to criticize Slash Fiction actually recognizes and rewards these Fans, even if it is negative recognition.
The script ignored FanFic writers who write Canon that surpasses the “Not Bad” compliment awarded them.
The art, writing, and videography of some Fans is absolutely astounding.
The script ignored the amazing charitable contributions made by Fans.
It ignored the painstaking research and cataloguing the Fandom does such as the Superwiki.
The marvellous Purple goo of creativity emanates from the Fans, too.
SPN should do more to utilize, recognise, reward and tap it.
The assumption is: unless you are a fan screaming for attention, rude, and completely unhinged with kink,
you will be ignored by SPN and Robbie Thompson.
Some complaints and demands of fans are ludicrous and should be ignored, but others do point out errors.
Scorning these complaints did not make them go away;
it underlined the growing split between what’s begged for and what’s given.
The writers made errors. The fans pointing out the errors were ridiculed for it.
Defending writer errors annoys Fans with legitimate complaints,
and ostracizes Fans who didn’t care about, or never noticed the error.
*“Pandering to the Base rarely succeeds in making anyone happy,
not even the fans it’s supposed to win over,
because ultimately what most devoted fans want is the same as the casual ones;
interesting and engaging stories…”
And, what would be a legitimate, important complaint? A legitimate complaint that was mocked was:
Where are the women? Women writers? Women directors?
A show known for taking risks and accepting new challenges could sally forth with this one.
Why doesn’t it? One female director in 200 episodes? 34 Female writers in 200 episodes? About 17%?
(Many women wrote with a male partner.) Good Luck, Marie!
And, can we dig a grave for the GENDER STEREOTYPING done on both sides of the shipping debate and in this episode?
Someone has to take the high road. Straight men can stand close together and still be straight.
Gay men can demand ‘guy space’ and still be gay. Straight men wearing pink are still straight. Gay men wearing blue are still Gay.
How does gender stereotyping justify anything? Let’s salt and burn those illogical and harmful stereotypes!
Also, calling a teenage girl a ‘bitch ’ in front of millions viewers = not a good idea.
Writing this script required a clever mind and that was amply demonstrated with witty dialogue and complex plotting.
The script was a maze of allusions to plays, past episodes, and Television Tropes. The idea for the show:
(TWEET: Robbie Thompson: all started w/ The Carver & Mr. Singer saying,
what if #Supernatural Ep 200 was a high school musical?)
Song writers Christopher Lennertz and Jay Gruska collaborated on the script as well as some suggestions from
director and Executive Producer Phil Sgricca. It should also be noted that,
(TWEET: Danielle Melvin @JensenAckles I’m getting that a lot of your stuff wasn’t scripted? 😉
The fans rescued SPN with small “stakes.” Money?
I am haunted by what this show could have been.
The TV Trope *Word of God is used.
The author inserts himself to comment on FanFiction as, “Not bad.”
Well, back at you, Robbie, “Not Good.”

Director /Cinematography
Phil Sgriccia/ Serge Ladouceur
Kudos! A complicated nightmare of a play with in a play, capturing cast and audience reactions,
along with interesting POV’s, High angles and Low angles, eye-candy shots, and of course this beauty shot right here:
The Allusions /Posters
Amid the multitude of spoken allusions were these thought provoking silent ones:
(Alice in Wonderland, Cats, Midsummer’s Night Dream, The Crucible, 12 Angry Men, and the SPN Musical Program)
STAGECRAFTS!
(TWEET: Ryan Curtis: That ribbon effect– I gasped.
Somehow a practical stagecraft trick was the ideal little nod to our amazing VFX dept.)
(TWEET: Ryan Curtis: Watch out for our real PA Ileanna working the lights from that
chair during the play. She looks great.)
BEST PERFORMANCE
The young women “kicked it in the A$$.” Katie Sarife was outstanding. All the best to all of you!
From The Rear View:

Many allusions hark back to the first five seasons. Easter eggs of 200 mark the 200th anniversary episode.
Happy anniversary!
THANKS TO:
~TV TROPES All *Boldfaced terms may be accessed here:
~There is a special section created by some industrious Meta/s cataloguing Supernatural’s use of tropes.
Although not up to date you may access it here:
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Supernatural/TropesAToD
GOOGLE: Name Meanings
~Supernatural Wiki
~Home of the Nutty Screencaps
Thanks to Alice of the Winchester Family Business:
For allowing me to express my interpretation of this episode.
I absolutely loved this episode. Robbie Thompson did a wonderful job on the script and the girls knocked it out of the park. The J’s had fun with it and as usual were fabulously funny and touching in their performances. I want to see the play on the DVD extras for S10. I can see why it was one of the most critically acclaimed episodes of the season.
Thank you for your review. I really enjoyed the behind the scenes looks.
BTW it didn’t look to me like Jensen said ”this is stupid” to me. He looked like he was muttering something though.
I am not well now, but Shall read this article & hopefully
all of yours. Love your spacing & presentation. xxo 🙂
I hope you feel better Nolanola.
Ah Nolanola, I’m sorry you aren’t well again. Get better soon. We miss your voice in these discussions!
E.
Very interesting review Wednesday. I enjoyed this episode after my first viewing because it was pretty funny, the music was excellent, and because the brothers seemed to be getting along. But as I thought more about it, I liked it a little less. It focused much more on Dean’s reaction to the whole thing, and Sam acted a little too goofy in it. In the big 200th episode I think both brothers should’ve been front and center, more so than the guest stars. It bugged me that (as usual) only Dean had meaningful conversations with Marie even though she was a Samgirl. Once Marie realized they were the real Winchesters wouldn’t she have made a beeline to her “sweet, selfless Sam” or however she referred to him? (That’s what I would’ve done! :)) But after reading your review it struck me that there was a reason why the episode featured Dean more prominently. I think you’re right that the episode, which was supposed to be a love letter to the fans, really was directed primarily at some subsets of the fans. Sure there were some shout outs to the general fan base, such as the Adam reference, but much of the plot and dialogue revolved around shipping issues. And since Jensen is the one who has been vocal about not caring for much of that, it served as more of a love letter to those fans if Dean were the one saying “write your story your way.” Maybe Robbie T thought other fan groups had already been acknowledged in The Real Ghostbusters and in TMATEOTB. Or maybe Robbie thought this was a nice way to tell some shipping fans that they could write as much about it as they wanted, but the show was going to provide its own vision. I don’t really know, but after reading your review I agree that the episode should’ve featured a more representative portion of the fan base. I still enjoy it for the fun elements it contained, but as the milestone 200th it was a bit of a disappointment.
According to Robbie Thompson’s tweets for some of his episodes, a lot of Sam scenes end up being cut. He mentioned it particularly with TNPLH there were scenes with Jared and Felicia that he really loved that were cut. I would like to see directors cuts of some of the episodes and not just deleted scenes. I think that is why there may be some discontent in the writers room at the moment. I have a feeling RT isn’t going to be a problem for much longer or Berens for that matter.
That’s interesting. Who gets final say on how the episode is cut? Carver and Singer? And have RT and Berens openly said there is discontent? Actually, did Glass say why he was leaving? Where do you get all of these interesting tidbits Cheryl? Boy, that’s a lot of questions. 🙂 I always wish that they included way more deleted scenes on the Season DVDs. I’ve wondered many times how much footage they shot that didn’t make it into the 40 minute episode.
I’d heard that RT and Glass were considered part of the Sera Gamble empire and that they found themselves at odd with Carver sometimes. It’s ironic in that both of them are so Dean oriented I wonder how there could be a problem? Clearly Carver is Dean oriented as well, so I am not sure why there may have been unhappiness?
Do you think that both RT and RB are leaving? I know that Adam Glass has left and I am not sad about that at all. If RT left I wouldn’t mind too much, he’s a much more talented writer than Glass, but he has many of the same problems Glass did, in character bias and fantasy self insertion, both of which I could do without. Loosing Berens though would be a real blow. He’s clearly the most talented writer on staff and I feel that he writes both the brothers well. He also seems to “get” Supernatural in a way that most of the other long term writers don’t. How Berens, with only two years experience can make his episodes sound more authentically accurate than any of the long timers (Dabb and the wretched nepotism duo) is beyond me, but he’s clearly got the tone of this show better than any of the other writers, The Carver included. Can you imagine if Berens and Ben Edlund were working tougher the awesomeness that they could come up with?
I actually like Dabb. I used to love his and Loflin’s episodes. Dabb has been more inconsistent since going solo (Bloodlines, ugh!) but he’s written some great episodes. Inside Man is my second favorite episode of the year. I thought it was fantastic in every way and gave both brothers equal time and interesting stories. I also really liked Reichenbach. But I completely agree about Glass. I think Bad Boys was one of the worst episodes of the past few years.
I like Dabb too for the most part, and he’s proven that he can really come through when he puts his mind to it. You’re right, Inside Man was terrific and we finally got to see SOMETHING from Sam and some sympathy for his situation too. But he IS inconsistent. The Things We Left Behind? Bloodlines, Devil May Care? or the episode where suddenly it became only Sam’s fault that Lucifer was let out. I have trouble sometimes reconciling how Sam can be treated so sympathetically in one episode (Inside Man) and have the entire Lucifer debacle laid solely at his feet in another (Devil May Care). It’s pretty annoying. Still though, he’s the most senior writer on staff and sometimes his episodes don’t sound as authentically “Supernatural” as Berens’ even though he’s only written six episodes.
Whoa, I don’t know how this discussion veered into Robbie Thompson and Robert Berens are leaving as writers, because I haven’t heard such announcement or rumors. When I talked with Robbie in Chicago in early May he was all ready to report for work in a few weeks and it’s my understanding Berens was on board as well. The only writer leaving was Adam Glass, and that’s because he is going to be one of the show runners or the show runner for the new Criminal Minds spinoff. We reported that here on this site! So yeah, where is any of this coming from?
Robbie has stated that he had a disagreement on Charlie being killed off, but other than that I haven’t heard any other trouble. He knows that Carver and Singer have the final say on everything and he has no say in the direction of the show. It sounds like it’s always been that way, even when Gamble was in charge.
Sorry that was an offhand remark based on his latest tweets and a gut feeling. I obviously have no knowledge of what any writers plans are for the future. I guess I shouldn’t post [i]everything[/i] that pops into my head.
Alice, Do you think RT was too vocal in discussing behind the scenes differences. There was speculation on imbd that he really bit the hand that feeds him and might get cut from the roster. I liked this episode but find most of his efforts meh. He’s too in love with Charlie who is a compilation of tropes at best starting with the Mary Sue.
Jensen was pretty vocal about the killing of Charlie as well. He stated it at Jibcon I believe. It was only the second time he ever approached the producers about a storyline. The first time he was happy at the outcome of his concerns and said so over and over. For the Charlie debacle he wasn’t happy and said so publically. As did Jim Michaels. I doubt either one will lose their jobs.
I know on IMDB Charlie is very unpopular but with the vast majority of the fandom she was well liked to loved.
This was a truly exceptional episode of Supernatural. It was the best episode of season 10, and I’d argue the best episode since season 7’s “Death’s Door” (the last time we had a truly exceptional episode of the series).
There are, of course, two little things I would have done differently:
First — I’d find a way to put Becky in the episode. Even if it were just a walk-on cameo for 30 seconds, I still think she’d be perfect for the episode.
Second — rather than Chuck the profit, I’d have John Winchester be the big reveal at the end. I know it would make no sense at all, but I’d still do it.
I am not quite sure why you think “Ms. Chandler, the ‘MisHandler,’ or ‘Handler’, represents the older demographic of the fandom. The “convention goer” with her phone keeping her connected. Divorced. Drinks too much.” I do not see the connection. Ms. Chandler was a bitter woman, lazy and not paying attention, washed up in alcohol who saw no merit whatsoever to the Supernatural play and wanted to shut it down. How can that be representative of ANY part of the fan base? Sorry, I am just not following your thought process and conclusion here. Not starting an argument, just wondering.
I agree I don’t think that was Robbie Thompson’s thought process either. I think she was just a character that just didn’t ”get” SPN and it’s passionate fans.
I do agree with you that Chuck was and is an avatar for Kripke. Some fans argue that Chuck was representative of God, a physical manifestation of God Himself because in Swan Song, Chuck, dressed all in white, says that endings are hard, and never perfect, and types “The End” and vanishes for reasons unknown. But I think Chuck was representative of Kripke himself as “God” creator of the show. I think Kripke wrote himself into his final episode as show runner; incorporating his own Swan Song. Kripke was going out; Swan Song was Kripke’s ending for the Sam and Dean story and thus Chuck went too. When we first met Chuck in 4:18 The Monster at the End of the Book Chuck himself was referring to himself as the writer/ creator of the characters, lamenting poor writing and how hard it is to write.
DEAN: You didn’t toy with us, Chuck, okay? You didn’t create us.
CHUCK: Did you really have to live through the bugs?
DEAN:Yeah.
CHUCK:What about the ghost ship?
DEAN:Yes, that too.
CHUCK:I am so sorry. I mean, horror is one thing, but to be forced to live bad writing… if I would have known it was real, I would have done another pass.
DEAN: Chuck, you’re not a god!
SAM:We think you’re probably just psychic.
CHUCK:No. If I were psychic, you think I’d be writing? Writing is hard.
I think this script dialogue is Kripke talking about himself. Kripke in one of those extras on the dvd stated he disliked the 1.08 Bugs episode. Also, At Comic Con 2009 Kripke said “he has a “tempestuous, loving, conflicting” relationship with the online Supernatural fan community, and that the meta episode “The Monster at the End of This Book” gave him a chance to lovingly make fun of them.
I think Chuck’s statement in Swan Song was another personal statement by Kripke to the fan community: CHUCK (VOICEOVER): Any chapped-ass monkey with a keyboard can poop out a beginning, but endings are impossible. You try to tie up every loose end, but you never can. The fans are always gonna bitch. There’s always gonna be holes. And since it’s the ending, it’s all supposed to add up to something. I’m telling you, they’re a raging pain in the ass.” Finally in Fan Fiction, I think it is acknowledged that Kripke inserted himself as Chuck in the story.
Sam: Wait where’s Chuck?
Marie: Oh, I love him I do, but honestly the author inserting themselves into the narrative thing, it’s just not my favorite. I kind of hate the meta stories.
And finally Chuck has to be the one to show up at the end…. it was Kripke’s way to give his “blessing” to his creation that took on a life of its own.
Hi spnlit. I completely agree that Chuck was an avatar for Kripke, but Kripke also has said that he intentionally raised the possibility that Chuck was God, while not definitively answering it. So I guess maybe Kripke has a God complex? 😀
Chuck thought he was a God…. he created Sam and Dean and they appeared. A writer is the master of his universe ….. but then there is the dreaded fans.
😉