I was warned about this review by some of my SPN buddies who said it would drive me crazy trying to write everything that happened in the mishmash of arcs and singular storylines in season 9. One fan, Tikistitch, wrote an amusing summary of the season, which you should read here. It's funny, but also rather sad. Evidence of what happens when writers don't plan their season arcs ahead and just throw things on screen hoping something would stick.
The show wasn't like this in its earlier seasons. If I were to write this review for seasons 4&5 it would have been equally long but for entirely different reasons. I most likely would have ran out of space describing all the underlying themes and interconnecting elements, metaphors and mythologies that created the intricate tapestry of those seasons. Those were seasons in which writers were master craftsmen, skilled enough to know where to put each knot and color to weave a fine, cohesive picture. In comparison, this season was like a bunch of kindergarteners taking a handful of yarns and tying them whichever way they wanted until the final product emerged as a coil of tangled fiber impossible to make sense of.
In this writing I'll try to make sense of it, and as a bonus, I will offer suggestions for how I would have written each storyline had I been the writer. Again these are only my opinions and by no means claimed as right or wrong. Every discussion is valid, which is why I’d love to hear them in the comment section.
So let’s delve into the many plots of season 9 and the fixes I would suggest for them.
Angels...they are falling:
One of the most picturesque scenes in the series was the closing of Season 8, when the sky opened above a rustic church and lights rained down our heroes as they watched. As much as I despised the last leg of the 8th season, those images are forever stamped on my brain for their beauty and shock value. I still go on Youtube to watch videos people made by overlaying that scene with Adele’s Oscar winning “Skyfall.”
At the time the idea of Heaven breaking and all its celestial residents diving toward earth like blazing meteorites was fascinating. It was also promising because it paralleled Season 2’s ending with demons swarming earth. I could picture an exciting Season 9 full of rampant angels running around and causing havoc in human habitats, and Team Free Will trying to stop them.
I should have known better, at least from past experiences. Season 6 finale left me anticipating a heart pumping Season 7 with God-Castiel as the main villain. Season 7 finale made me salivate for a highly charged purgatory storyline coupled with Sam as the rescuer. Both failed to deliver.
Season 9 was no exception. Aside from a farmer angel and his buddies beating on Dean to find the location of Castiel, and Castiel hitting a few bumps on the road to find the Winchesters, and the introduction of Ezekiel/Gadreel, nothing was really done with the premise. There wasn’t Breaking News, mass hysteria, or anything else that suggested anyone besides the Winchesters, Castiel and Kevin noticed the fall. A colossal event like that becomes worthless if it has no impact on the universe of the show. Once again Supernatural ended a season with a bold move, only to squander it next year by returning to the everyday mundane.
If I had written it: I would have made it the main arc of the season. I said in a previous review that my idea of a perfect Season 9 was Sam, Dean and Castiel driving around in the Impala, season 1-3 style. Their mission would be to find and help the good angels while hunting the bad ones. Even if that wasn’t the story the show went with the writers could have at least shown some effect on the human society. That many bodies falling from the sky surely must have caused some chaos. But they played it as if everything was business as usual. It felt like Carver didn’t know where to take his story and assumed people would forget during the summer. Or perhaps he was hoping a done-to-death Sick Sam storyline would distract the audience long enough to not ask why no one in the world talked about wings burning in the sky and men and women falling on rooftops and in gardens.
Sick Sam trope fest #900:
I already said in the last review why I had problems with this storyline. Sam wasn’t supposed to be dying, on the merit that he stopped the trials last season. He being sick and dying on Dean made their decision to not close the gates of Hell pointless. Again I wonder if Carver was counting on viewers forgetting about that over the summer. Or perhaps he is so fond of this overused trope that he couldn’t have a season without it.
Speaking of overused plots, that’s exactly how I would describe any and all Sick Sam storylines on the show. There were no parts of it that hadn’t been done at least once already. From Sam lying unconscious in bed, a frantic Dean hovering over him, Sam walking through his mind scape and meeting different characters, Dean making a deal with some entity to save his life, all of it has been put on screen in all its glory multiple times before, which makes it a case of beating a horse into and beyond afterlife.
If I had written it: I would not have written it. Sam would be healthy and self-aware from the get go and would take part in whatever crisis the season introduced. He didn’t need to spend any more time on his back, in his dreams, or as someone else, not after spending most of the previous seasons doing just that. The writers resurrecting that trope yet again made me think they really didn’t know how to write Sam and kept knocking him out to avoid the responsibility of actually developing him.
Gadreel, the homewrecker:
The first part of Season 9 was yet another possession story that did considerable damage to the brotherly bond. It involved a fair share of both brothers acting stupid to serve the plot, with a dash of Dean keeping the knowledge of the possession hidden from Sam since that is always a good idea to get them into a fight.
What bothered me most about it was that it was riddled with plot holes and unanswered questions. Why was Gadreel so dead set on staying inside Sam when the seat kept getting hotter everyday? Why did Sam not notice the loss of time, the disappearing wounds, or the weird conversations he was dropped into without prior knowledge? Why didn’t Dean ask Castiel to give him information on Ezekiel he could use as a litmus test on the creature inhabiting his brother? Why did Gadreel get swayed so easily by Metatron and agreed to kill Kevin? Why didn’t he kill Dean too, on his way out, to keep him from coming after him?
If I had written it: This is another one that I would have probably stayed away from. But if I absolutely had to write a possession story involving Gadreel I would have made it a battle of wits between him and Dean. Dean was in a vice due to Gadreel holding Sam’s life over his head. It didn’t mean he had to take it lying down. I would have loved to watch Dean trying to outsmart the cocky angel and gain advantage over him. He could have traded helping him with his heavenly troubles with hastening Sam’s healing.
Sam too could have been more aware of the situation and the show could have created a good amount of tension in the risk of Sam finding out. The way it played out, neither the wit nor the tension was there. Everything was all right until it wasn’t, at the very end of the season, much like it had happened with Sam’s Lucifer hallucinations in Season 7.
Castiel the hormonal hobo human:
There had always been Castiel fans who wanted to see him become fully human. The reason they craved that storyline always came down to seeing Castiel struggle with the moral and existential quandaries of humanity including mortality, having a conscience, and being completely cut off from Heaven’s celestial core.
None of that was explored in S09 when those fans finally got their wish. Instead we were treated to embarrassing scenes of Castiel figuring out toothpaste, complaining about potty, staring at breasts and fighting with a slushy machine. Even sitcoms don’t use this type of humor anymore.
And what about his struggles? He battled with homelessness and hunger of course, but it was mixed with the bizarre idea that other angels were after him, a plot element never explained. Then he experienced sex for the first time, and even though it was really rape everyone congratulated him like it was his greatest achievement. He inexplicably found a job at a Gas-N-Sip and went after more sexual escapades because the first one ended so well. Finally, again inexplicably, he found a way to impersonate an FBI agent and ended up stealing another angel’s grace and getting re-haloed. I don’t know if any of this was what fans imagined when they hoped for a human Castiel. It certainly was nothing I had imagined, or wished for him.
If I had written it: I would have made it about Castiel’s existential crisis and his struggle with what it meant to be human: mortality, loss, loneliness, pain, hunger, abandonment, free will…everything he had already brushed against coming full force at him like a tidal wave of distress. I would have him try to function in the main plot while going through his internal battle, and examine the differences in his actions and interactions with Sam and Dean, when he not only did not have an advantage over them, but was dependent on them for simple things like food and shelter.
The angel civil war, also known as Oh-God-Please-Shoot-Me:
I doubt I have to say more about this than I've already said in my previous reviews. This took the cup as the worst storyline in Season 9 for me. Not only did the writers walk all over the angel (and reaper) mythology, they turned the previously sullen, majestic beings into jokes. Of all the characters running after the plot this season the angels were the worst, acting like brainless, purposeless lemmings that trudged in whichever direction the writers pointed them to.
The story of their civil war was also rubbish. Like the previous one fed to us in Season 6 (before Edlund came and saved it somewhat in The Man Who Would be King) it mostly happened off camera, and to characters we barely knew. In the episode Captives we were dropped in the middle of a funeral involving the leader of a rebel group, who had just lost the battle with one of the angel factions. What followed was a conversation we had no chance to follow or care about because we never saw the story happen. This was the norm with the angel storyline which became quickly irritating. Events happened, character came and went, or were killed off screen. We knew it was all heading somewhere but it was as if we were looking at it from the window of a passing train, images flashing too fast and too vague for us to understand or hang onto. It didn’t help that as soon as a morsel of information was given, we were taken to a completely different place next episode (a Monster of the Week storyline, Abaddon or Crowley) and lost any thread of connection we had with the angels and their war.
If I had written it: I would have applied the terminator-like characteristics of the season 4-6 angels: cruel, quiet and deadly. I would have chosen one seraph as the main villain and placed Sam and Dean opposite him or her. Also, if I chose to make them hunt Castiel, I would at least explain the reasons behind it. On the show, we never got why the angels were after him. In the beginning I thought his grace was supposed to be a key to their return to Heaven, seeing as it was one of the ingredients of the spell that cast them out. But that became void when Castiel got another pint of grace from a random angel he killed. Castiel’s grace was never mentioned in Season 9 and went by the same wayside that the falling angel spectacle and the brothers choosing each other went. I however would have used it to give our heroes a goal to pursue, a sort of McGuffin that explained the rivalry between the different factions of angels and how Metatron kept his supremacy over them.
The brotherly rift:
Again my stand on this one is pretty clear. I hated every bit of it. There was no redeeming aspect to it except Carver wanting to push Dean to the brink of despair. I don’t understand why he thought he had to destroy either character, or their relationship, to get there. There was plenty of misery in the word for Dean to be swept by without making him lose the only family connection he had.
Carver’s skewed view of the brotherly love didn’t start with Season 9. His first misfire was in Season 8, when he made the strange decision to have Sam pursue a romance instead of help Dean, or Kevin, or the humanity terrorized by the Leviathans. Perhaps he wanted to deviate, but he took it to its utmost extreme when he pitted Sam and Dean against each other on the subject of Benny. Like me, you may have thought this was all going somewhere and were waiting for a resolution to come, but it never did. With the launch of the Trial storyline Carver abandoned all previous buildup, and reset the brothers to their pre Season 8 status, with Sam as the heroic, suffering brother, and Dean as his nursemaid.
A similar scenario happened in Season 9. Sam and Dean were at odds over Gadreel when the Mark of Cain storyline came to sweep everything under the carpet. The season once again ended with the brothers hugging and crying and talking emotionally to each other but, in light of what happened before, it all felt so out of character it could have happened in a different season.
If I had written it: If I absolutely had to write a scenario in which the brothers fought I would have made it about their brotherly concern for each other, like how Dean worried about Sam and his demon blood addiction. There was still friction there, but it was over love and not a grudge. Grudges are valid reasons for characters to fight, but unless the point of the story is for the person holding the grudge to either take revenge or let it go, there is no real point to them. It’s not fun for me to sit and watch Sam take his time beating on Dean, no matter how justified he is in his anger. It doesn’t improve the characters and it damages their relationship, creating an overall atmosphere of bitterness and depression in the show.
Crowley the thorn in the side and Abaddon the boogie(wo)man:
I don’t have much to say about these two that I haven’t said in the previous review, except that their stories acted as additional noise to the collective clutter of this season. It wasn’t clear to me what Crowley was doing, why he didn’t hatch a plan to escape the Winchesters, or why he kept coming back to them after he was released. I assume his goal was to defeat Abaddon, but for two rivals going head to head these two had remarkably few encounters. It all felt very disjointed in the end. Especially if you question the sensibility of the Winchesters throwing themselves in the lion’s den to help a guy who, just last season, killed a handful of their old acquaintances in an attempt at blackmail. I know Abaddon was a menace to society that needed to be eliminated, but her actions were so far removed from the main storyline, and her evil was so faint, I wouldn't have been surprised if Sam and Dean used her to end Crowley instead of the other way around.
If I had written it: I would have made Crowley, or Abaddon, or both eventual allies of the main angel villain (who incidentally wouldn't be Matatron as I’ll explain in the next topic) in order to stop the Winchesters. Some effort had to be made to connect all these storylines together so that the audience wouldn’t feel they were watching a different show every week, with a different set of heroes, villains and stakes.
Metatron the @#%&*!:
I’d like someone to explain to me what Metatron’s story really was. Why did he create the spell to expel all angels from Heaven when he knew he would be left alone up there? Why did he come back to earth to collect them again? What exactly did he do with the angel tablet; what powers did it give him? Why was he writing a story? What was the story about? What was it supposed to do? Was a mythology behind the story, or some sort of spell that made it come true once he had finished it?
It’s safe to say I didn’t understand Metatron’s story at all. If he wanted to rule Heaven he could have stayed there and bribed all angels with a ticket back in exchange for their loyalty. If he wanted to rule humans and become God he should have mimicked God, not Castiel, and again stayed in Heaven. By the end of the season we should have had a clear idea of what his plan was and how he planned to execute it. I still don’t know why he played Jesus with the homeless. Did he want them to follow him? Why? Again, was that part of a spell or did he just enjoy the idea of being worshipped by humans? If so, why would anyone want to kill him? He wasn’t harming anyone, just helping the needy and collecting a flock.
If I had written it: I would have given Metatron a clear purpose, not something vague about writing and characters in a book. I also would have made him secondary to a larger, more formidable villain. One of the angels (with Raphael’s presence and clout) or even Abaddon, when she was better developed. I would have made his brand of evil slicker, slyer and wittier. Made him a true schemer behind the scenes, less flashy and more calculating to give him a chance to be actually menacing.
The Mark of Cain woop-de-doo:
The big one, the motherload, the winning shot Carver scored with fans, which caused him to either drop everything that came before it, or reform their conclusions based on this storyline.
In First Born - 11 episodes into the season - we met Cain, who gave Dean a mark and promised that using a special blade in conjunction with it would kill Abaddon. Many Dean fans became hopeful that after many years of asking, their hero had finally gotten a big story. The mark however didn’t come into play until much later in the season.
I don’t know if Carver introduced the story first to gauge fan reaction and then, seeing the positive feedback, decided to make it the main season arc, or if he planned it from the beginning. I’m leaning more toward the former based on the gap that was between when the story was first presented and when it finally took off. Also, before Cain appeared, there was no indication of a storyline focusing on Dean. Everything revolved around Sam’s angel possession, Castiel’s humanity, and occasional appearances by Crowley and Abaddon. Dean was mostly sidelined, except when he was needed to be told how high to jump by Gadreel. Maybe this was a case of fan frustration finally reaching Carver. In any case, it could have used a better buildup, a semblance of an inner journey for Dean to explain where all the rage had come from (the mark made him do it simply isn’t enough,) and a bit more support and sympathy from other characters.
If I had written it: I would have given Dean more reason to latch onto the mark and the want to kill. Dean was pushed to the brink in Season 5, yet he stayed in control and triumphed over the angels. He’s not the type of character who’d go darkside because Sam told him they were no longer friends. He is made of tougher stuff. If we consider Sam’s parallel story in season 4&5 we see the difference. Sam had come out of a terrible year of drinking, mad hunting, and trying to find ways to bring Dean back from Hell. That backstory gave him enough ground to fall into the pit of despair and addiction. He also had a devil on his shoulder whispering conspiracies into his ear. On top of it all he was consumed by insecurity (because of not saving Dean) and a need for revenge. All that worked toward landing the season’s final resolution in the right place. Kripke didn’t waste time on spas or werewolf families or kidnapped vampires. Even his one-off episodes had themes pointing toward the season’s main arc and ending.
Demon Dean:
Technically I should not include this one because it didn’t exist. There was no Demon Dean storyline this season. But I put it here because I thought there should have been one. Not the actual storyline but the buildup toward it.
Like what I said about the Mark of Cain, Demon Dean came out of nowhere to hit us in the face in the last seconds of the finale. I understand the value of shocking your audience but you can’t pull a rabbit out of the hat like that. You can't surprise viewers with something they couldn’t see coming even if they were Sherlock Holmes. I know there was a lot of speculation about this in the fandom; people speculate characters turning into demons or angels pretty much before and after every season finale. But what is said in fandom and what is done on the show are two different things. There was no premonition indicating Dean would get the infamous black eyes throughout the season itself.
Last season, with Metatron and his spell, we knew he wanted to close the gates of Heaven. The part we didn’t know was that he also wanted to expel everyone from it. Similarly, in Season 3, we knew Dean was heading for Hell. The question of whether or not he could be saved was what provided the surprise. This season we had nothing tipping us off about the mark turning the bearer into a demon. Cain’s story was that he made a deal with Lucifer and became a Knight of Hell. So is Dean a Knight of Hell now? If so what happened to his human soul? Is his body dead? Does he exist as tainted smoke like the rest of the demons? Where was his deal? What happened to the terms of the contract? How does this match with the demon mythology that came before, or the fact that a human soul had to be broken in Hell before it could turn into a demon?
If I had written it: I would have come up with an airtight mythology that explained how this happened. People would be able to connect the dots and reach the conclusion themselves. They would know why Dean became a demon because, based on the mythology I created, it would make sense. I may have involved Crowley in it too, much more than the show did, perhaps given him the role of the conspirator who hid things from Dean and twisted truths in order to facilitate his transformation.
The return of who-gives-a-f*cks:
I added this one because it was brought up in the comments in the last review and I had planned to talk about it but never got the time. It’s about the practice of bringing back secondary and even bit-characters and giving them their own episodes. It becomes particularly infuriating when the season’s own mytharc is moving at a glacial pace. Do we really care about a story on Charlie, or Garth, or the Ghostfacers when Sam and Dean are at odds and God only knows if Castiel is even alive? Couldn’t we spend the air time on more important things like making the angel storyline more coherent or showing more of the effects of the Mark of Cain?
What really annoys me about this repeated guest appearances is that they aren’t really guest appearances. The characters (especially the Sue-ish ones like Charlie and Garth) take over the episode and highjack the plot in ways that undermine the real main characters. I said this in the Garth episode, the only characters who deserve full episodes dedicated to them are long time veterans who played major roles in past mythology arcs. For someone like Charlie to show up at random - and have whole episodes devoted to her and how awesome she supposedly is - is distracting. If the writers plan to reintroduce a previous character, they could at least take the time to make them part of the Winchester story, like they usually do with Sheriff Mills. Perhaps that is why she isn’t irritating like the rest of them. Bringing a character back simply because a writer invented him/her and needed his ego stroked again is silly.
If I had written it: I would only bring back characters whose presence served a purpose on the show, meaning if they were there to do something in the main arc. An example would be Anna and Becky in Season 5, who either helped the Winchesters learn more about the ongoing events, or played an important role in those events.
Let me know what you thought of Season 9’s compendium of storylines and their resolutions. You could also tell me how you would have rewritten each of them, as well as what your overall idea for Season 9 would have been had you been in charge of writing it. Ideas about Season 10 and what you like to see coming up are welcome too.
This ends the last Gripe Review for this season. I will most likely watch the first episode of Season 10 and if I find it worth my time I will review it, much like I reviewed this season even though it wasn't worth my time (the show, not the reviews.)
Till then, thanks for reading and stay safe, SPN fans.
Tessa
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twitter.com/tessa_marlene
It's only my opinion but I feel the time has come to move on from season 9 and look towards season 10. There has been so much discussion of season 9 already that any more just seems to be rehasing the same issues with the same arguements between the fans.
ReplyDeleteI know I may be in a minority but I actually enjoyed most of season 9 and so I am now just going to look forward to the start of season 10 and see where they go with the story of demon Dean and I am looking forward to seeing the boys back on the screen and doing what they do best, which is entertain me and keep me emotionally invested in the story of Sam and Dean.
Thanks for the comment and for reading. I somewhat agree. It won't help though if the writers go into the next season making the same mistakes and mixing up the same ingredients that caused Season 9 to be so problematic. I understand people enjoyed it, but even you have to admit, it was by no means at the same level as the first five seasons. If we could smooth out the wrinkles, and understand how it could be improved, then Season 10 might be.
ReplyDeleteMetatron wanted to get revenge of angels because they were after team when God left Heaven. He spent years reading books because he likes stories. That's why he sent all angels on earth. Then, he was feeling lonely and unloved, so he decided to come back to earth and let angels come back. He finally just wanted to write a good story. He is kind of a sociopath.
ReplyDeletePlus, I think killing Abbadon was a bad idea, she was a great villain.
Thanks for your review, Tessa. I can agree with some of it and completely disagree this the others.
ReplyDeleteFor instance, I DID NOT want "Sam, Dean and Castiel driving around in the Impala, season 1-3 style". Where is the story? Every episode is what, MOTW there monsters are angels? No, thanks. I did love the overall plot with Sam-Gadreel-desperate and abandoned Dean-MOC. The execution of this plot could be much better, no doubt. But the main idea was good IMHO. Winchesters by now are really in higher league than simple "let find and kill this random SOB angel" plot. Occasionally - yes, but they had to go big, Methatron big.
I hated Angels story. Just in general everything about it. My personal prospect - writers trying to keep Misha as series regular to serve part of the fandom but really don't know what to do with him. All his stories since season 6 were forced and boring, and this season I was simply fast-forwarding every scene angel-related which did not include boys. And I used to like Castiel very much. Civil war, again? What purpose did it serve? That story line was a major letdown for me.
I did love MOC twist and I am really looking forward to season 10 DD. I do not feel un-repairable demolition of brothers relationship was done, yes, it was painful to watch sometimes, but conflict served the plot - Dean makes controversial and rushed decisions only when he is desperate and has nothing to lose. Sam rejecting him was this "nothing to lose" situation.
Thank you, exactly my thought. We have to move on with all this " remember season 1-5 good days". This is a different show now, 3 showrunners will do it to any show on TV. And I did not like certain staff. But I am really looking forward to seeing boys on my screen again, and so far no TV show managed to get me so emotionally invested in fictional characters as SPN.
ReplyDeleteSam, Dean and Castiel driving around in the Impala, season 1-3 style". Where is the story? Every episode is what, MOTW there monsters are angels? No, thanks.
ReplyDeleteThat's only the gist of it. Like saying season 2 was Sam and Dean driving around the country killing demons. Sure some of it was MOTW, but that wasn't all season 2 was about, was it? I'm the biggest fan of big mythology arcs and I think I mentioned somewhere in there that I would have wanted a kickass,sinister villain to add layers to the conflict. What I didn't want was 7 different storylines running parallel with each other, getting dropped and picked up along the way like a mind bending circus act.
Actually Metatron said he wanted to get revenge on the /archangels/, who last i checked are either dead or as far from Heaven as they can possibly be and where in no way affected by his "big" revenge plot. That's why he had that big speech about how they ran him out of Heaven because they wanted to use his knowledge of the Tablets. The fact that Castiel didn't even know about this proves the other angels had noting to do with it and were probably unaware as Metatron was viewed as almost a celebrity. Seriously if Metatron had wanted before he could have just popped in and said who he was and most angels would have followed him freely.
ReplyDeleteExactly Annie, I think that's where my confusion with Metatron started. Last season he said he was sacked by the upper management. Then he concocted a spell to throw everyone out of Heaven and I thought that included whoever was upper management at that point which would satisfy his revenge. Yet this season he came back and his focus was entirely on Castiel, who for all intents and purposes was a bottom feeder at this point and should have been of nobody's concern. I never really got what the conflict between them was about since Castiel wasn't even asking for his grace back (like Anna did in season 4) so what these two were squabbling about and how the other angels factored in it is still a mystery to me.
ReplyDeleteLike I said season2 S/D are nothing like season 9 S/D. Those two now are somewhat an elite hunters, MOL successors, ect. They have now a bigger fish to fry then Sam and Dean in earlier seasons. That's why come back to those good years when their biggest problem was to kill few demons and ghosts or find the Colt, is not possible. They stopped Apocalypses and anything smaller that that (which is hard to top) seems like a kids games.
ReplyDeleteAnd I agree with failure of multiple story lines last season. Carver said he wants to go GoT structure but obviously his team is not talented enough to create such a complex story as in GoT. SPN is small show with small cast and only 2 main characters and attempts to overblow it into something it is not going to fail.
Carver said he wants to go GoT structure but obviously his team is not talented enough to create such a complex story as in GoT.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know Carver said that. If it's true that he wants to turn SPN into an ensemble show he is on a very wrong path. Aside from the issues you mentioned (which I absolutely agree with) Supernatural's main charm is its main cast. If he goes GOT on it and has episodes that involve storylines without Sam or Dean or Cas he's going to piss off his audience. He did try something similar a few times, with Bitten and Bloodlines, but every time it has been a disaster.
I agree that the show is different now and I'm far from one of those fans who wants the show to "go back to its roots" with two hunters on the road. But I do want a singular main storyline strong enough to carry the show through an entire season. The reason I'm a fan of the Impala idea (and like I said, that's just my version of how I wanted things to happen) is because I miss the car, the music, the back roads and the dingy motels. Things are sure different with the introduction of the bunker and all the MOL stuff. But sadly they haven't provided us with equally good stories in this new setting so it's natural to look back and want the stuff that was good. However I know that it won't necessarily solve the problem. The only thing that will is if the writers get their act together and start producing interesting material.
I get that some people love Felicia Day, and I have nothing against her, but I dislike Charlie as a character. I hope we don't see her in season 10.
ReplyDeleteI miss the car, the music, the back roads and the dingy motels
ReplyDeleteOh me too. Miss it very much. I miss Smart Sam and Flirty Dean. And I miss good fillers and hilarious comedy episodes. I just hope with DemonDean/Crowley next season we'll get some long overdue humor I miss very much too.
And I agree - assemble cast just wont work for this show. At this point a lot of fans keep watching only to see Js perform and how Winchesters story unfolds. Its too late to change the basics, SPN world is seems to be big enough for GOT like scale but it tight to 2 humans and may be one angel, that's all. I hope Carver finally got an idea and instead of "throwing many balls in the air and see what sticks" he can give us one or two strong ,good quality stories.
Your sentiments are shared by a lot of fans I know. I personally have had no other exposure to Felicia and I was ok with Charlie the first couple of episodes she was in. But then they turned her into this super-Sue who was an expert in everything and always 1-upped the boys while rubbing it in their faces. Then they added the character shilling and she became unbearable. In the Oz episode they straight up called her the smartest person in the room and had her save the day when 3 experienced hunter where spinning on their heels. Seriously Robbie, I know you love your gender bent self insert, but you don't have to humiliate the other characters just to prop her up.
ReplyDeleteI sincerely hope we never see her again either. But I wouldn't be surprised if early in Season 10 we got an episode in which she showed up as the queen of Oz with legions of men and wizards at her feet and has Sam and Dean kneel in front of her as her special knights.
Hi Tessa.
ReplyDeleteI still think Crowley has a lot to answer for this season. I think he's sent Dean right up the garden path. All throughout First Born there are little hints, and clues. Personally I think Crowley is as guilty as hell in setting up Dean from taking on the mark to becoming a demon. I thought the same about him becoming a demon that his soul wasn't twisted in hell so I don't know how he can instantly become a demon at this point. I don't think any of us know what Dean is at present. Even Sam thinks Crowley got him into this mess. I have liked a lot of season 9 but thought there were too many fillers. It took them ages to get onto the mythology side and completely forgot about sending the angels back home which I thought was a shambles. I hated they killed off poor Kevin, and the way in which he died. I also hated the way in which we lost Gadreel too. Even though he went out a hero and saved Cas's life. Oh and I nearly forgot RIP Tessa another one they have bought back, just to kill off.
Exactly. Even Bartholomew and Malachi seemed to have been bottom feeders in the angel hierarchy. I could understand someone like Naomi (or even Zachariah if he was still around), since they seemed to have worked directly under the archangels and could have been involved with what happened to him. But by S09 his obsession with destroying Castiel came out of a left field.
ReplyDeleteWhile I find it refreshing to see that some viewers have a positive attitude for the coming season, after the last two (actually, the last four for me), I think fans who have invested nine years in this show have a justifiable right to be concerned about S10 based on what has come before. Critiquing is always a useful exercise. In other words, I feel I and others like me have earned the right to bitch in the hopes that someone on the writers staff will decide to get down off their high horse and actually pay attention to their craft.
ReplyDeleteI am more dreading S10 than looking forward to it, and the dread comes from the disappointment of how far this shown has fallen. Yes, different showrunners and writers will change things up, but always...I repeat...always, writers and/or showrunners coming to a well-established show should spend the time and effort to know the characters, the tone, the premise, and the mythology of the show and fit into it seamlessly. This group of writers and this showrunner does not, and that is a major disservice to the loyal fans that kept this show afloat during the years when renewal was questionable. SPN is now the flag ship of the CW network, and it is the loyal fan following that made it that. The least the writers could do is show some respect for that.
I can’t tell you what the main arc of the season was, because everything was so disjointed.
ReplyDeleteThe main problem was that most of the stories considered, I suppose, as arcs did not involve the Winchesters. There needs to be a meaty plot to a season’s story, and the Winchesters
need to be directly involved in that story. That means that both Sam and Dean need to have a story that somehow involves a main plot. I feel like the J2s lost their own show in S9, and I don’t have much hope that they will get it back in S10 with the new ensemble cast. The Winchesters will only be one of four major players and who knows who the main player may be.
My other major gripe along this line is that Sam and Dean should NEVER be written out of character. They are the two leads, and I find it absolutely baffling as to why they are not kept in character, which has not been the case for the last two seasons. At this point, I don’t even
know who Sam is, what he wants, why he is with his brother and hunting. Does he still think Dean is a selfish bastard who only does things for his own benefit? Will he dump Dean the next time he hits a dog and meets a girl? I don’t trust Sam and, at this point, he is an irredeemable character.
Dean fairs somewhat better, although not because of the writing. I still see Dean in these
god-awful scripts, but I attribute that to JA’s talent as an actor. I fear that with this new Demon!Dean story, his character will go the way of Sam’s in S10. For that reason, I am one of the few who do not look forward to S10’s demon Dean. And, no, the MoC story was not developed. It just happened, and it was left to the fans to fill in the blanks as to what was motivating Dean.
I agree with all of your points, especially Sam being sick again and again. I have had enough of
woobie Sam. As for Castiel, his character is there for fan service and to hold that portion of the fan
base. He has no purpose and hasn’t had since S4. I hated his human story and I hated him having a separate story from the Winchesters. The one thing I liked about Cas was his ‘profound
bond’ with Dean…what a great pairing that used to be…but that is now written away, so I can take or leave the character.
As for Crowley, I think…no, I fear…that in S10 developing his character will be the focus of the season, yet I see no reason why the Winchesters haven’t killed him long ago. It makes no sense at all…oh, wait. Yes it does. Fan service instead of paying attention to the art of crafting a story. The fans should NEVER dictate what goes on in the season. It is the writer's job to tell a story and tell it in a coherent manner to where the fans do not have to guess at what is going on. It is the fans' place to judge whether they like the story and whether to continue watching it if things do not go the way they like.
Charlie and Garth make me want to puke. I tolerate Jodi Mills, but I do not enjoy her taking over entire episodes while the Winchesters play support roles to the characters. We will see her again next season, but I may skip my first episode (unless Charlie shows up first).
Sorry, but I can’t tell you what Metatron’s story was or any of his motivations. I didn’t get it from
the beginning, and it still makes no sense to me. Nor can I tell you what Crowley was up to and
if that panned out, but I did hate his human blood addiction story.
My final thought is that I don’t think anybody is running a writers room on this show. I think the
writers each pitch their ideas for individual episodes and they are accepted or rejected without thought to an overall story. So, while this is a thoughtful and concise article on the problems of
the season, I don’t see anything changing anytime soon.
I strongly share your feelings on Charlie. I have vowed to skip the next episode Robbie Thompson puts her in. I can't stand his, as you put it, self-inserted Charlie hero worship.
ReplyDeleteSeason 10 should move to 13-14 episodes. The kick-ass cable shows manage to do it.
ReplyDeleteI highly support this. That could be why cable shows (and network shows like Sleepy Hollow and Hannibal) are actually good. They don't distract with filler episodes and have one dense plot that goes through the entire season. Maybe the reason Supernatural had so many different storylines happening this season was because of too many episodes. Imagine they had started with the Mark of Cain and made a 13 episode season focusing on that. I suspect I would have liked it much better.
A really good Review on Season 9 and the "If" sections. I agree with all that.
ReplyDeleteand if anything can be fixed next season just end the
The brotherly rift all together. There is no way 2 bros like them who have been through so much would still find reasons to hate each other.
S-Oh what just happened?
D-Dude you were possessed again.
S-Really?
D-Yea.
S-Shiit...
Solved.
Thank you Ginger for your as usual in-depth comment. I always enjoy reading your posts because you always add things to the review that make it much better.
ReplyDeleteI feel like the J2s lost their own show in S9
I think that too. But since Carver reportedly wants an ensemble show with each character leading their own story instead of connecting to Sam and Dean we're looking at more of the same next season. I'm already preparing myself for the new format. I guess it would be Dean+Crowley, Sam, and Castiel each having separate storylines.
I don’t trust Sam and, at this point, he is an irredeemable character.
I share that sentiment and it makes me sad. That's why I kept hoping for a Sam POV all season and am so pissed they didn't give us one even after Dean got the mytharc. They just muted Sam and left him to hover around until the last episode where he went through the same motions he did at the end of season 3.
I fear that with this new Demon!Dean story, his character will go the way of Sam’s in S10.
I never thought about it that way and now I am fearing it too. As I said in the last review Dean's character went through some fundamental changes this season IMO, to a point that he scared me toward the end. I don't want to think about what awful things the writers might do with him now they turned him into a demon. I hope they don't make him ooc and let him keep some of his humanity. I'm reminded of Sasuke and how his character changed into such a bastard I stopped reading the Naruto manga.
The one thing I liked about Cas was his ‘profoundbond’ with Dean…what a great pairing that used to be…but that is now written away, so I can take or leave the character.
Again, same here. Maybe they worked so hard destroying the profound bond because they were planning a Dean/Crowley arc for season 10 and decided to gradually cut Dean off of his previous relationships. Except they left Castiel with nothing. He doesn't have a personality anymore. And he really didn't do anything this season other than having things happen to him and getting dragged around by the other characters. That's why I said in the last review I would like him better on his own show where the writers wouldn't isolate and abuse him.
I'm not sure keeping Crowley around was so much for fan service as it was to serve Carver's ensemble idea. He was there to add yet another plot to the mix and now he'd be a regular who would share the spotlight with the Winchesters. Guess I have to forget all the horrible things he did to our heroes and their friends and learn to like him.
I think thewriters each pitch their ideas for individual episodes and they are accepted or rejected without thought to an overall story.
You are actually right about this. I remember Adam Glass said something along those lines when he wanted to bring back Krissy last season. He apparently wrote the episode revolving around her and pitched it to Carver, who accepted to add it to the show. I believe this is what we have to accept from now on because it's very unlikely Carver would change anything. Supernatural was one of the few shows whose viewership increased this season so Carver must think he is doing it right with this formula and is going to apply it again.
Maybe you should consider what I've decided to do next season: let go of all your old attachments and look at the show as if it's a completely new series.
In Metatron's section up above Tessa called him Metatron *******; I am asking please please, give us a couple of consonants so we can figure out the vowels Oh Vanna!
ReplyDelete(On TWOP his character thread was Metatron: SH*TH**D. I loved that every time I read it.
Tessa, I do agree with your cavils. I think the angel civil war should have been shown on screen not off screen (like Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead); and the idea of Sam and Dean and Cas tooling around America saving good angels (like Muriel and the lady who led the peace faction or even Tyrus (?) the bowler) and ganking bad angels (I can't decide if the Angel of Death who was killing unhappy humans was really evil; he just did not understand humanity AT ALL). That would've made a good season arc. AND having Abaddon team up with head angel baddie would've gotten us to The First Blade by a different route (Dean blamed himself with reason this time for bringing her head and her body out of storage so she could give them an infodump but SHE ESCAPED) because Dean believed he had to kill Abaddon himself. (Of course I lament the fact that TPTB felt they had to keep Dean and Castiel separated as much as possible. Come on, guys, you wrote them as better-than-best buddies and NOW you separate them! Shame on you!
Like Caz74 I liked this season more than I disliked it, but I read this review with ways it could've been made better and I think you hit it on the head.
One thing I really liked was that for once Jensen Ackles appeared to know what his season arc was and physically SHOWED what was going on with Dean. Wonderful job.
Ditto on ending the brotherly rift. I'm am honestly so tired of it. Even sisters don't argue and pout as much as these guys do. You're right about how actual brothers interact in real life. That dialogue is bang on.
ReplyDeleteI can't figure out why he needed Castiel's grace to power the Expulsion Spell; he HAD NAOMI. Granted she had a drill in her head BUT there were no wing shadows. She could've been stunned but "alive" and Metatron could've taken HER grace. Why Castiel? (I have a theory that all the ingredients in the Expulsion Spell were human-love related: the nephilim a product of human angel love, the cupid bow a creator of human love, and Castiel's grace which I think was the right ingredient due to his love - agape or eros - for Dean.)
ReplyDeleteI don't know WHY Metatron arranged for Dean to find him in Miracles so that Metatron could kill him. Dean's love - agape or eros - for an angel?
I enjoy the discussions/arguments re Season 9, but I think the plots hung together a little better in Seasons 1-5 (but that does not mean they were SO MUCH better, just that things like the Croatoan virus and then The End and then Brady and Pestilence and the almost-unleashed plague. Hey, now I am getting mad at Bloodlines for wasting a whole precious episode.
Hi Bella, thanks for the comment. I agree with you about Crowley. They should have killed him before he had the chance to lead Dean where he did. I don't know what the brothers were thinking trusting him, but then again, most of this season I didn't know what the brothers were thinking. My guess is that the plot demanded they didn't kill Crowley (so he could be part of the cast next season) so he stayed.
ReplyDeleteGlad I'm not the only one who doesn't know what Dean is. Hopefully there will be an explanation next season, and hopefully it won't distort canon too much or walk all over the demon mythology like it happened with the angel and reaper mythologies.
But to be fair, Tessa, Sam and Dean are living under the most stressful conditions imaginable. If they screw up the world could end. That would make them swallow things that should be discussed and THEN blow up when things get to be too much.
ReplyDeleteIn your review above you mentioned something I really appreciated: Sam's not looking for Dean after Survival of the Fittest. Or going after the remaining Leviathans. Or looking for Dean. Or looking for Kevin. Or looking for Dean. That is such a head- scratcher I can't get over it. THAT was worse then trusting Ruby and the demon- blood addiction BECAUSE the show gave us back story WHY. And it was crappy but it DID make sense.
Well in the Stressful time their bond should be =ualy strong to counter it.
ReplyDeleteIn a world where they have to worry about those kinds of dangers the type of problems they have should not even be relevant, it should just be a understanding now, like oh not that again... they experience those problems before and learned lessons of its outcome as they obviously gotten in good terms again, meaning they learned. So that experience of learning and should add to their bond experience .
I know they aren't normal siblings leading normal lives. But to me that should make them tougher and less focused on chick flick things likes who lied to whom about what. As you say, the fate of the world is in balance and if they don't suck it up in favor of staying united the world might truly end.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad we're on the same page about S08. Even now I still don't know what Carver was thinking writing Sam like that. Maybe he thought Sam would be tired of saving the world and decided to show him do boring stuff that for some reason was considered happy living.
Nope, can't do that. I will be back for S10, but I may not stay for long. The Js are averaging about 18 to 19 minutes per episode now (in the mytharc episodes, and less in many others). If that time is cut any more with the new ensemble cast, I'll be gone. If it becomes clear that Dean's character is trashed like Sam's was, I won't be in for very many episodes either.
ReplyDeleteI still can't figure out how Dean turned into a demon. JA said at the JIB Con that Crowley turned Dean into a demon, but that Dean had the MoC, so he did not know what the writers were going to figure out. How can Crowley magically turn Dean into a demon? It makes no sense. The MoC has nothing to do with being a demon at all, It creates a blood lust which Cain was able to overcome by discarding the Blade and finding unconditional love. So, you see, I think there is already a problem with the logic of that plot, and the writers haven't even written anything yet!
Great posts. Some excellent points about the story weaknesses of season 9.
ReplyDeleteI saw the arc of the season as being about Sam and Dean's relationship, where the angel and demon storylines acting as sort of catalysts -- Sam with his possession and Dean with the MoC. It was a much more personal connection, getting all stabby with angels.
ReplyDeleteThe angels were really Castiel's story arc, and even then the writers realized it would repetitive, Cas meets and an angel, tries to help some and then someone dies. A whole season of Cas, Sam and Dean doing that would have been boring, and frankly make the angels seem like bigger chumps getting killed by humans, because Sam and Dean have actually not killed a lot of angels on the show.
It really wasn't an ensemble season though, there were, what? Three episodes that focused on a recurring character. Charlie and Garth were written off for the time being, and the Jody vampire episode.
ReplyDeleteThis review is perfect.
ReplyDeleteAs I understand Sam's S8, it was a poached Dean/Lisa story with the point being that Sam decided to be a hunter. Mind you, I did not get that from what was shown, and to this day, I still don't know if Sam has given up on the idea of a 'normal' life or if he is committed to hunting with Dean. Why is Sam even hunting, and why is he staying with Dean? From his hurtful words to Dean in S9, my brain tells me that he has not given up on the idea of normal. Yet, we got the Charlie "Oz" story where he decided that the bunker was now his home...I think. Who the hell knows? We will have to see what version of Sam we get in S10, I guess, and fill in the blanks.
ReplyDeleteThank you.
ReplyDeleteThanks, I hope so too. I doubt it though because there are way too many reviews about the show out there and the writing staff mostly seems to gravitate toward the positive ones.
ReplyDeleteTo me that sounds like different writers not comparing notes. Everyone seems to have their own idea of what Sam wants or thinks. That's why his character is so all over the place and that's most likely why he hasn't gotten a POV episode in such a long time. No writer on the staff is confident enough, or is familiar enough with Sam, to write from inside his head. Most of the time they don't even give him coherent dialogue in heated arguments so poor Jared has to improvise with facial expressions.
ReplyDeleteI REALLY HOPE THE RETURN OF BOBBY HAPPENS, HE WAS SUCH A BIG PART OF THE WINCHESTER BROTHER'S.I DON'T LIKE ANY PART OF CASS GOING AGAINST DEAN OR SAM, TO ME THAT NEVER MADE SINCE,I THINK IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN DONE BY CROWLEY,ALTHOUGH I LOVE THE SUSPENSE OF IT,TO ME IT WENT WAY OFF THE CHARTS.I'M HOPING SEASON 10 CASS IS TRULY HIMSELF LOYAL AND BACK FULLY WITH DEAN AND SAM.BOBBY EVEN COMING IN AND OUT OF EPISODES I THINK WOULD BE A GREAT ADDITION FOR THIS SEASON AND CHARLIE IS SO LIKABLE TO ALL THE FANS I KNOW AND MYSELF,WOULD LOVE SEEING HER BACK AS WELL.NO MATTER WHAT SUPERNATURAL IS MY #1 SHOW AND I WILL STAY FAITHFUL TO IT.JENSEN AND JARED ARE AMAZING ACTORS.JUST THOUGHTS FROM A #1 FAN!
ReplyDeleteI like the review, well said on a number of things. I myself was waiting on the angel war and Crowley and Abaddon to somehow interconnect, they are Demons and Angels but why the 2 separate civil wars it just seems pointless and over the top.
ReplyDeleteMetatron pissed me off, not the big bad suited for SPN, I kept waiting for him say we've got bush.
But on the demon dean front a few of us picked it before the finale, the key points introduced that had me thinking was,
Being able to cure a demon - why have this and not use it to shut the GOH, I say they had introduced this with the intention to be able to turn one of the brothers back from being a demon.
The MoC and Deans eagerness to kill - this was the vehicle on how Deans sole could be twisted even if he had good intentions.
The last that set it up for me was being able to turn a non hell bound soul into a demon and being able to create demons fast, this mixed with the MoC gave big hints.
I miss the good old colt.
ReplyDeleteGreat points on the hints. Being in the fandom for so long I've seen fans make these keen observations all the time. There are so many interesting metas and analyses on every aspect of the show. But whilst reading them and agreeing, I sometimes wonder how much of it is the writer's intent and how much our imagination. I used to believe the connections and metaphors until Samelia in season 8, when all speculations and meanings turned out to be not true and the whole thing was just a bleak and bland side story. That's when I began to realize the writers aren't as deep and sophisticated that we sometimes give them credit for. A lot of things we see as foreshadowing and planted are simply story bits they add to fill in the gaps.
ReplyDeleteIn case of Demon Dean, I think they could have done a better job at least connecting some of those hints to the MOC. As it was, the individual storylines were so disjointed I didn't even dream of taking one idea from one and applying it to another. Most plots felt like they belonged to different shows, like the two civil wars.
why the 2 separate civil wars it just seems pointless and over the top.
Someone mentioned Carver wanting to make this an ensemble show like Game of Thrones, with completely separate storylines that only occasionally intersect. I personally think that idea weakens the show and takes away what has been its biggest selling point: its relationships and the meaning of family.
I feel the same way, Tessa. Throughout S8 and continuing through S9, I don't feel like the sub-text can be trusted in any way. As you say, things are just thrown in and discerning fans pick up on it, but it goes nowhere. Nuanced writing and weaving interesting points in and out of the story seem beyond the ability of the current writers.
ReplyDeleteTake, for instance, the curing of a demon. In order for a demon to be "cured," they have to express remorse for the things they have done. It is that remorse and desire to be better that brings about the cure (Crowley in Sacrifice). Dean, while feeling guilt, regret, and responsibility since he was four, has never done anything "evil" to show remorse for.
In addition to that, Dean is a whole new kind of demon. There were several points to that. First, it was either that the MoC or being a demon gave the person immortality. As it turned out, it was being a demon. We were led to guess that, since the MoC was given by Lucifer, it was Cain's deal that made him a demon; therefore, keeping to past canon that years of torture in Hell made Cain a demon. Not so with Dean.
Apparently, the MoC somehow taps into the raw energy of the soul and makes its bearer powerful and strong, and then with each kill the soul is corrupted until the bearer loses all sense of humanity and turns into a demon....except that Dean only cut off Magnus' head and killed Abbadon. That is not a lot of killing, so what we are left with is not knowing if Dean is now a full demon or even if Dean will realize he is a demon (which I assume that he will, given the lateral way the writers think.
And then there is the isolation. Cain became isolated from everyone for centuries. Dean lost friends various ways (Cas through a separate storyline, Garth being a werewolf and **cough** Charlie going off to Oz to find adventure, but he never willingly isolated himself from anyone; especially Sam. Sub-text concerning the isolation did not mean anything.
As far as changing the selling point of the story, I feel Carver has already done that. Even before Carver, hunting was turned into some awful fate; not a heroic thing to do. Since Carver, the brothers and their supposedly "bond" has been completely shattered without the story explaining much about motivations. The tone of the show is completely different with no utilization of the MoL bunker to explore new ideas. It's just a stage set. The music is just weird for the most part, the titles don't often refer to old rock songs. And then we get to characters in the show. What can I say about that? Garth as a believable hunter? Charlie, who is smarter than Sam and everyone else on the planet just picks up hunting in a couple of attempts. Kevin was smarter than the computer whiz Sam, who used to be the computer whiz. Jodi Mills can chop off a vamp's head with a one-handed swing of the machete, while our big, badass hunters have to use two-hands and swing with all their might.
Word on Charlie. Even Garth, though I like him loads better than her.
ReplyDeleteWay to go , Ginger ,you nailed it! I enjoyed following U and ur unique writing style!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Kurt. I'm afraid I am so disappointed in what this bunch of writers has done to a really unique show -- actually, I can't believe what they have done.
ReplyDeleteHello, Miss. I'm really impressed with your review. I've read your Comment Policy, but I couldn't understand some words of it because of my lack of the ability to understand the English ;) I must reveal that the English isn't my mother tongue. Please excuse me for the grammatical mistakes.
ReplyDeleteI've added your Supernatural-season-9-so-far-gripe review link to my petition, hoping that any staffs of the Supernatural would see your review. (http://www.thepetitionsite.com/960/684/541/the-road-too-far-to-the-directors-writers-of-the-supernatural/)
Tessa, please let me know if this is a problem or if you prefer to delete this link. I'll delete this as soon as possible when you ask for. I hope this is not a rude action to your country's culture.
Hi there and thanks for the comment. It's not a problem at all. All I do is write these reviews and express my opinion about the show. If other people like to take it one step further I don't object. Glad you like my writing.
ReplyDeleteTessa
ReplyDeleteHaven't seen any review from you regarding Season 10 Black. I know you are no longer a regular on IMDb boards but not sure if you have stopped reviewing Supernatural altogether.
I have fingers crossed that you'll be doing the reviews again this year, too. Pretty please. I've missed you on the IMDB boards. I haven't visited them much over the hiatus, but checked back in right before the premiere started.
ReplyDelete