The first half of the season felt like the heart of the show was missing.
Ha, I think there used to be a line in this meta that said exactly that (but I deleted it), so I agree obviously. :)
Sam and Dean love each other, even if they don't understand one another
Yes, this is the best sort of conflict because their feelings for each other provide a needed counterpoint to the problematic issues, it's the "pull" part of the "push-pull" that conflict needs. If the characters have no reason why they keep hanging around to just fight, the conflict seem contrived and unbelievable, so it's necessary even though it seems counter to what would make for good tension/fighting. I feel like the writers somehow forgot this and just wanted to manufacture Big Conflict as if that alone would make for good drama. It's almost like they didn't know what else to do after 7 seasons of previous brother conflict so their default was to just make everything BIGGER. :(
I would really like to know what the writers were thinking when they outlined the first half of the season.
Even though I don't think it had to spin out like it did, I feel like it was spent cleaning up where S7 left off, a really long transition from Gamble's story to Carver's story. Like Carver felt obligated to play out the repercussions of Dean in Purgatory and Sam alone in order to position the characters for where he wanted them to be for his story (8x11 and beyond), only he really didn't want to deal with it thoughtfully. So instead of picking story lines that spun from Sam and Dean as characters (I'd like to have seen Sam get Dean out of Purgatory and have the boys be agencies of their own lives instead of pawns of the supernatural again), he just picked some story lines that hadn't happened yet (Sam in a long-term relationship, not hunting and Dean being best buddies with a monster) and shoved Sam and Dean into those roles.
At least it seems the season has finally turned a corner.
And just in time! Even my patience was beginning to wane.
Ha, I think there used to be a line in this meta that said exactly that (but I deleted it), so I agree obviously. :)
Sam and Dean love each other, even if they don't understand one another
Yes, this is the best sort of conflict because their feelings for each other provide a needed counterpoint to the problematic issues, it's the "pull" part of the "push-pull" that conflict needs. If the characters have no reason why they keep hanging around to just fight, the conflict seem contrived and unbelievable, so it's necessary even though it seems counter to what would make for good tension/fighting. I feel like the writers somehow forgot this and just wanted to manufacture Big Conflict as if that alone would make for good drama. It's almost like they didn't know what else to do after 7 seasons of previous brother conflict so their default was to just make everything BIGGER. :(
I would really like to know what the writers were thinking when they outlined the first half of the season.
Even though I don't think it had to spin out like it did, I feel like it was spent cleaning up where S7 left off, a really long transition from Gamble's story to Carver's story. Like Carver felt obligated to play out the repercussions of Dean in Purgatory and Sam alone in order to position the characters for where he wanted them to be for his story (8x11 and beyond), only he really didn't want to deal with it thoughtfully. So instead of picking story lines that spun from Sam and Dean as characters (I'd like to have seen Sam get Dean out of Purgatory and have the boys be agencies of their own lives instead of pawns of the supernatural again), he just picked some story lines that hadn't happened yet (Sam in a long-term relationship, not hunting and Dean being best buddies with a monster) and shoved Sam and Dean into those roles.
At least it seems the season has finally turned a corner.
And just in time! Even my patience was beginning to wane.
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