Interview with Supernatural Co-Executive Producer Andrew Dabb – Comic Con 2015
Our time with Mr. Carver was so short, there was one burning question on our list that wasn’t answered. What happens now that Dean has killed Death? In between guests we decided collectively that this question would be the first one thrown at Andrew Dabb. The answer I think is pretty damned satisfying. Also, I should note, for this being his first ever round of interviews at Comic Con, he also did really damned well. He’s very good with his delivery and answers!
Below is the video link and the full transcript! Spoiler alert!!
We all have one major question. You all killed Death. What are the repercussions going to be of Dean killing Death?
Oh, there are repercussions. We get into them in the second episode and they’re going to play I think to play over the course not just one episode it’s more of a storyline for us but there are a definitely ripple effects going from that. Death was a great character for us. There’s always gotta to be a Death the question is who it is.
In theory, and it’s been said before, whoever kills Death becomes Death.
Hmm… (smiles and says quiet). A lot of things get said, you know what I mean?
What about Charlie? How are you going to fix that?
Charlie and her possible return I’m going to plead the fifth on, but I do think that fans will be encouraged.
Most episodes are drama and you have those funny episodes. How do you manage the balance of comedy and drama?
To me that’s the essence of great storytelling. Even when you look at film and books and things like that, the best dramatic stories always have a hint of humor to them and the best comedies always have a certain dramatic truth to them and I think that’s the challenge when you walk into this. Certainly “Supernatural” plays with the one liner, as good or better than any show on television at the same time if there’s no depth behind the characters it doesn’t really land, it just becomes a gag reel. And those are fun, they’re great to show at Comic Con, but people come from the heart and that’s what we want to emphasize and it’s the heart with a little smile.
(My question) Are there any comedy episodes planned though?
Right now, I would say in the first run we have two episodes that I think fit that bill that are going pick our guys up in a different direction, put them against a character, a bad guy they’ve never been up against, one which may where a bunny (or is it funny?) hat. I don’t want to talk about it too much. I think those going to be some really funny episodes and more on the lighter side.
Are there any plans to bring in a strong, female lead at any point?
I think to a degree that depends how you define lead.
Not like the brothers of course.
For example last year when we introduced Rowena, we saw her being a three to four episode character, she ended up being in more episodes than Castiel was and she’s been awesome for us. For us it’s about finding those characters that really land and finding those actors and actresses that really land. I think that this season, without giving too much away, I think there’s a character coming down the pike that fans will really respond to in that way.
Do you plan out everything for the next few seasons because there’s so much you guys are covering over the 11 years?
We usually don’t think two or three years in advance because we very much hope we’ll be here in two or three years but you just never know. What I would say is usually about September depending on how things are going, depending on the things that we start talking about, how does this season complete and the next season what can we do, that’s pretty much how The Darkness came about and keying it up and leading up to it. We’ve been very fortunate to have a little warning about the show’s fate and I hopefully that will continue. But we don’t sit and plan out three years down the road we’re going to do this just because you never know, but I would say we have a broad story and it can be stretched out for three years or it can be condensed if that becomes necessary which we all think it doesn’t.
Is there a moment in the early part of the season that you can’t wait for the fans to see?
Oh very much so. There is a moment in episode 4 that I’m very interested to see how the fans respond too. I think episode four for us has been kind of a keystone episode, it has a very cool conceit, it’s a lot of fun, but it also does some stuff dramatically. Starting in episode 2, particularly for Sam, something happens that I think fans are going to be very interested in.
Oh please, this interview gives the impression that they actually know what they’re doing. It became pretty obvious last year that they make the stuff up as they go along.
Also, why “fix” Charlie’s death? I think it’s just fine the way it is. If anything, bring Kevin and Bobby back first.
I like Andrew Dabb; with Adam Glass gone, has he assumed responsibility for overseeing the writing staff? I know he wrote Bloodlines but he’s written a lot of very good episodes too. This season he’ll either catch or surpass Sera Gamble as having written the most Supernatural episodes.
I like Dabb too for the most part, he wrote a couple of stellar episodes last season, Richenbach and Inside Man (Inside Man was one of the best of the entire season IMO). But he can be pretty inconsistent and toss out a few stinkers too. While Inside Man was excellent, The Things We Left Behind was a real bomb as was season 9’s Stairway to Heaven. Then again he also wrote Road Trip and Trial and Error, both of which I thought were very good. He remembers that Sam is part of the team, and doesn’t tear him down to build up the other characters or make him look stupid or oblivious. He can stay!
Okay, Alice said that Jared talks fast, but man does Andrew Dabb talk fast! I’m glad that you included the transcript of the interview just to help know what was said. I agree, he did really well for his first time, but take a breath dear!