The trouble with season eight is that the main conflict was not about them at all: it was a battle of wills between Kevin and Crowley
So on point! This is a really good point, and one that highlights a major difference between this season and past seasons. It's funny how conflict and motivation are intertwined--they're often stuck together, but not always. And this season shows that.
I think a lot of the problem stems from the fact that the show needs conflict on the mythic scale and on the personal scale. Usually, these two things have been tied together. But here they were disconnected, which meant that Sam and Dean's arguments necessarily looked manufactured.
I agree 110%. I played a little game at the end of S5 and teased apart conflict for every season up to that point, then wrote a post discussing exactly what you mention here. :) It would be interesting to redo this exercise for S6-S8 and see how things compare with how the season was perceived to hold together.
a lot of what we feel for them comes from our intimate knowledge of where Sam and Dean are at, and what the guest characters' arcs say about them.
I feel that when Show doesn't do this AND the supporting characters aren't quirky and colorful, they aren't as well received. This poor show is all about Sam and Dean no matter how you spin it.
instead of Amelia and Don representing Sam and Dean, Sam and Dean represented Amelia and Don.
O.O My brain just turned inside out. :)
he's Sam. He falls apart in dramatic ways. We're not going to show you.
I can't help but wonder why this seems to be the case more than not with Sam's emotional journey vs. Dean's. My knee-jerk reaction is to want to reject it because I want SPN to treat Sam and Dean equally. But with the last couple of seasons, it's hard to ignore. *gets thinky*
I'm sorry for all the blather. I just love posts that make me think. :)
Don't be sorry, you comment was super awesome and really interesting! Blabbing about SPN is fun. Thank you!
So on point! This is a really good point, and one that highlights a major difference between this season and past seasons. It's funny how conflict and motivation are intertwined--they're often stuck together, but not always. And this season shows that.
I think a lot of the problem stems from the fact that the show needs conflict on the mythic scale and on the personal scale. Usually, these two things have been tied together. But here they were disconnected, which meant that Sam and Dean's arguments necessarily looked manufactured.
I agree 110%. I played a little game at the end of S5 and teased apart conflict for every season up to that point, then wrote a post discussing exactly what you mention here. :) It would be interesting to redo this exercise for S6-S8 and see how things compare with how the season was perceived to hold together.
a lot of what we feel for them comes from our intimate knowledge of where Sam and Dean are at, and what the guest characters' arcs say about them.
I feel that when Show doesn't do this AND the supporting characters aren't quirky and colorful, they aren't as well received. This poor show is all about Sam and Dean no matter how you spin it.
instead of Amelia and Don representing Sam and Dean, Sam and Dean represented Amelia and Don.
O.O My brain just turned inside out. :)
he's Sam. He falls apart in dramatic ways. We're not going to show you.
I can't help but wonder why this seems to be the case more than not with Sam's emotional journey vs. Dean's. My knee-jerk reaction is to want to reject it because I want SPN to treat Sam and Dean equally. But with the last couple of seasons, it's hard to ignore. *gets thinky*
I'm sorry for all the blather. I just love posts that make me think. :)
Don't be sorry, you comment was super awesome and really interesting! Blabbing about SPN is fun. Thank you!
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