wish I'd said it first: SPN "Simon Said" thoughts
My trusty friend, partner in Bear Hunt crimes, and beta, jmm0001, is cursed with an analytical mind. I often exploit it to my advantage, but here she has beaten me to the punch. She has written something I truly wish I'd written, and given me permission to put her thoughts out there since she possesses no desire to start an LJ account. Here's her thoughtful and incisive review of last night's ep -- spoilers, obviously.
I'll make sure she answers all comments.
When planes crash and burn there is the inevitable NTSB investigation. To learn from mistakes of the past and to prevent such disasters in the future. So in the interests of safety and good storytelling...
Vehicle: Supernatural, "Simon Said" Episode 2-5
Crashed and burned: Oct 26 2006
Conclusion: It is the opinion of the investigating committee that said vehicle failed due to failure to follow basic storytelling rules and regulations. Details follow.
Details:
1) First Rule of Good Storytelling: Have Your Heroes Act Like Heroes. Corollary: Don't have the guest stars act like heroes. Especially not in substitution for the main characters acting like heroes. In this instance Sam is sidelined at the very moment of crisis and does not act to resolve the plot or crisis in any way. Not only that but he appears to be present and conscious at the time and still does nothing. This alone is sufficient for the self-destruction of the episode, but as is typical in these kinds of incidents, there were far more rules violated.
2) Second Rule of Good Storytelling: Don't Change the Rules. You make them up, you have to stick by them. Sam's visions are premonitions. They do not happen in real time. In this one episode we have three different visions and three different timelines for them to occur. The first one gives the boys time to drive from wherever to the Roadhouse, time to consult with Useless Expositionary Characters®, and then time to drive to wherever to attempt rescue. Failure of that rescue is irrelevant, and consistent with previous established rules. The second vision however violated all previous established procedure for the sake of convenience and laziness. Just to prove that Guest Star was Official Red Herring.
3) Third Rule of Good Storytelling: Limit Useless Expositionary Characters®. They are sometimes necessary evils, but they should be avoided as much as possible. The father in the last episode was a good example of how they should be used. He fit into the story, even if his profession and library were a bit too convenient to be believed. The insertion of secondary characters merely to titillate or to provide information - particularly when they provide information the boys were well able to obtain on their own last year (see rule #2) - is the sign of particularly amateurish writing.
4) Fourth Rule of Good Storytelling: Don't Draw Attention to Your Stolen Plot. Plot ideas are stolen or borrowed. That is a given. Don't celebrate your lack of imagination. You get one joke to acknowledge those who have gone before. You don't get two. Either "these are not the 'droids you're looking for" or "full-on Obi-wan'd" but not both. And while the use of the idea of a psychic Pusher is acceptable, using the extension of that idea in having a redshirt set him(her)self on fire is probably cause for a copyright lawsuit.
5) Fifth Rule of Good Storytelling: Don't Ignore Opportunity. Dean has an important secret. Guest character makes people tell the truth. Out of this we get ... Bupkis. Nada. Zilch.
6) Sixth Rule of Good Storytelling: Cliches Should Stay Dead. The Evil Twin story does not even fly on soap opera anymore. It has gone beyond a cliche to a joke. Hanging a flag on it (i.e. having the character say 'I have an Evil Twin' so that we know that you know that you're doing it on purpose) does not solve the problem. It is still an evil twin story. Which makes the Official Red Herring story even worse.
7) Seventh Rule of Good Storytelling: Characters Must Act IN Character. This is really a subset of rule #2. But if the characters are going to act out of character it *must* have a story purpose. Dean giving the car to Guest Character is an excellent example of acting out of character for a story purpose. Playing REO Speedwagon on the jukebox was cringe worthy. Dean singing to REO Speedwagon was pointless and embarrassing.
Postscript: It is not the purpose of this investigating committee to assign blame or recommend remedial actions. If someone is fired over this... we can only hope.
-jmm
I'll make sure she answers all comments.
When planes crash and burn there is the inevitable NTSB investigation. To learn from mistakes of the past and to prevent such disasters in the future. So in the interests of safety and good storytelling...
Vehicle: Supernatural, "Simon Said" Episode 2-5
Crashed and burned: Oct 26 2006
Conclusion: It is the opinion of the investigating committee that said vehicle failed due to failure to follow basic storytelling rules and regulations. Details follow.
Details:
1) First Rule of Good Storytelling: Have Your Heroes Act Like Heroes. Corollary: Don't have the guest stars act like heroes. Especially not in substitution for the main characters acting like heroes. In this instance Sam is sidelined at the very moment of crisis and does not act to resolve the plot or crisis in any way. Not only that but he appears to be present and conscious at the time and still does nothing. This alone is sufficient for the self-destruction of the episode, but as is typical in these kinds of incidents, there were far more rules violated.
2) Second Rule of Good Storytelling: Don't Change the Rules. You make them up, you have to stick by them. Sam's visions are premonitions. They do not happen in real time. In this one episode we have three different visions and three different timelines for them to occur. The first one gives the boys time to drive from wherever to the Roadhouse, time to consult with Useless Expositionary Characters®, and then time to drive to wherever to attempt rescue. Failure of that rescue is irrelevant, and consistent with previous established rules. The second vision however violated all previous established procedure for the sake of convenience and laziness. Just to prove that Guest Star was Official Red Herring.
3) Third Rule of Good Storytelling: Limit Useless Expositionary Characters®. They are sometimes necessary evils, but they should be avoided as much as possible. The father in the last episode was a good example of how they should be used. He fit into the story, even if his profession and library were a bit too convenient to be believed. The insertion of secondary characters merely to titillate or to provide information - particularly when they provide information the boys were well able to obtain on their own last year (see rule #2) - is the sign of particularly amateurish writing.
4) Fourth Rule of Good Storytelling: Don't Draw Attention to Your Stolen Plot. Plot ideas are stolen or borrowed. That is a given. Don't celebrate your lack of imagination. You get one joke to acknowledge those who have gone before. You don't get two. Either "these are not the 'droids you're looking for" or "full-on Obi-wan'd" but not both. And while the use of the idea of a psychic Pusher is acceptable, using the extension of that idea in having a redshirt set him(her)self on fire is probably cause for a copyright lawsuit.
5) Fifth Rule of Good Storytelling: Don't Ignore Opportunity. Dean has an important secret. Guest character makes people tell the truth. Out of this we get ... Bupkis. Nada. Zilch.
6) Sixth Rule of Good Storytelling: Cliches Should Stay Dead. The Evil Twin story does not even fly on soap opera anymore. It has gone beyond a cliche to a joke. Hanging a flag on it (i.e. having the character say 'I have an Evil Twin' so that we know that you know that you're doing it on purpose) does not solve the problem. It is still an evil twin story. Which makes the Official Red Herring story even worse.
7) Seventh Rule of Good Storytelling: Characters Must Act IN Character. This is really a subset of rule #2. But if the characters are going to act out of character it *must* have a story purpose. Dean giving the car to Guest Character is an excellent example of acting out of character for a story purpose. Playing REO Speedwagon on the jukebox was cringe worthy. Dean singing to REO Speedwagon was pointless and embarrassing.
Postscript: It is not the purpose of this investigating committee to assign blame or recommend remedial actions. If someone is fired over this... we can only hope.
-jmm