In my recent letter to Jared about his outstanding performance in “Sacrifice”, I reminisced about how well Jared has been building the character of Sam over the past eight years. Jared offered a similar observation at the New Jersey convention when asked about Season 8 Sam. He observed, “Season 8 Sam is not season one…
In honor of Father’s Day, we are reposting this great analysis on John Winchester from Naismith that was originally published in April, 2009. The original article was a two parter, and both parts are here for your reading pleasure. So Happy Father’s Day John Winchester, wherever you are.
Before diving back into this, I again would like to issue a reminder. Please, please, please! I beg, plead, ask and request, no attacks on the actresses. This is a sensitive subject to the fandom in general, I realize that. But this is a look at the demon Ruby, not at the women who…
No Sympathy for a Devil Part I Or A Closer Look at Ruby So I tend to think about Supernatural when I should be thinking about, and writing about, other things. Such as the four final papers that are coming due for Grad school. This week. But what the hey right? This is Supernatural….
Sam Winchester and the Evolution of a “Freak” In the world of Supernatural, the word freak connotes different, dangerous, evil, and nonhuman. Hunters throw around various permutations of the word to describe the creatures they hunt (freaks), the situations they find themselves in (freaky), or negative emotional states (freaked out). Of the Winchester brothers,…
You want to know how freaking impossible it is to critique season six Sam Winchester? I mean, how in the world to you characterize a character that wasn’t a character for an entire half a season? It just blows the mind. Nah, there’s certainly something more to soulless Sam than meets the eye. After all,…
Each year when I sit down and look at how the just finished season has treated the Winchesters, I’m constantly surprised over how rich the story lines continue to get. In Sam and Dean’s case though, rich often means intense emotional angst and excrutiating physical and psychological torture. Just when you think that they can’t…
I so remember this time last year. I was still reeling from Sam’s horrible descent into total darkness, all capped off by his inadvertent kicking off of the apocalypse. These were my exact words at the end of my season four analysis on Sam. “Sam’s only options at this point are redemption, insanity or death. Guess which one…
It’s that time of year, another chance to go through the season gone by and examine closely how the beleaguered Winchester brothers fared in their fight against all odds. Needless to say, we’re talking some major damage to their emotional and physical well being. Thanks apocalypse! Up first, the elder Winchester. ————————– Dean’s character…
If Season three was about the self-actualization of Dean Winchester, then what was Season four about? A self-actualized man must face his character tests. Dean’s ultimate season four test ends up being the test of faith. Not faith in God or angels, but faith in everything he believes to be right and what matters to him the most, family. No matter…
This time last year, rumblings in the fandom over Dean’s supposed lack of character development got me in a tizzy, so I wrote an article, “A Deeper Look at Season Three Dean Winchester” for blogcritics in response to that misconception. I eventually followed it up with one about Sam and they got some discussion going. This year, all…
It’s Sam’s turn! As I’m sure many of you have picked up from my previous articles, I’m rather intrigued by the character of Sam Winchester. He’s dark and mysterious, and I really need to look hard to even get a small grasp of what’s he’s all about. Dean’s more open and since he’s already hit…
