Ridiculous, Rambling Supernatural Season Wrap-Up
Things that Rocked:
1. Those first four episodes. When I imagine what Season 5 could and should
have been, it’s basically the first four episodes continued. They had momentum, purpose, the pieces falling into place, the perfect balance of mytharc and brotherly angst, our entire story and entire cast coming together into one coherent whole. The first four episodes of the season were genre television at its finest, and it’s a real shame everything kind of fell apart soon after that. Seriously, go back and re-watch them. You’ll see.
2. Dean grows up (painfully). Especially in the first few episodes, this season was really about Dean learning to be his own person (and to be a leader) even if it sucked. Lots of fans didn’t like this because it also meant seeing Sam’s flaws and not instantly forgiving them, for the first time in Dean’s life. But I loved seeing Dean try to stand on his own two feet for the first time, to imagine what it would be like on his own, without this weight on his shoulders. It makes it all the more lovely when he decides to stay with Sam - it’s a choice now, not just something he’s always done.
3. Time Travel. The episodes featuring time travel were the most amazing of the season. The End. The Song Remains the Same. And I count Dark Side of the Moon here, even though it’s not technically time travel. In fact some of my favourite episodes of the series are when we get to explore Sam and Dean’s past, though this season they were made even better because they became an exploration of some of the Big Ideas: fate, destiny, free will. Also, every single time travel episode made me cry.
4. Bringing Adam (and everybody else) back. Sometimes when shows entering their (possible) final seasons start bring all the old characters back it can feel forced, and I was worried this might happen when we starting hearing all the casting details. But I think all the returns were gracefully done, and really contributed to the show; they weren’t just tacked on cameos. This season made me really like Jo when I hadn’t before, and I did enjoy seeing Meg again. Even though Ash’s return was forced by the fans, it didn’t feel like it and I love me some Anna and Mary kicking ass. Adam’s return was one I dreaded because I hated Jump the Shark so much, but his appearance this season actually made me like his earlier episode because it tied it into the story (where it had previously been so random and pointless). And the Trickster/Gabriel reveal couched in what had seemed like a harmless comedy episode? Maybe the cleverest little bit of retcon I’ve ever seen.
5. Crowley. Words cannot say how much I love Crowley. Although I’ve fearful he’ll die tomorrow, he’s one of the most memorable supporting characters the show’s ever introduced. And how much do I love that we have our first openly gay/bi character who doesn’t die immediately? (As opposed to Corbett, or Lily the lesbian at the end of season two) (LARPers palyed off for laughs don’t count or something, idk how I feel about them yet). I also like that Crowley gives us shades of grey again about whether or not to trust demons, something we’d lost post-Ruby.
6. Team Free Will. Perfection. Not terribly well-executed, but a beautiful concept that means a lot to fandom.
7. Neil Gaiman and Brokeback Mountain references. So this show has always used a lot of pop culture references, most of which I don’t get because I didn’t listen to the radio or watch TV before 1998. But I particularly love all the Neil Gaiman references because Kripke’s talked about him as an influence, so it’s nice to see them tipping their hats. Crowley is a Good Omens reference both in name and attitude, and I don’t think it’s a coincidence we first see him (kissing a dude!) under a freeway bridge. The anti-christ kid too is a reference as well, and Hammer of the Gods is basically the poor man’s American Gods (which everyone should read to see how that episode could’ve been done well). Also, a quick shout-out to scene straight out of Brokeback Mountain at the end of 5x2. Because it was Sera Gamble and you know she did it on purpose.
8. Ben Edlund. You rock, dude. STAY WITH US NEXT SEASON PLEASE.
Things that Bombed:
1. The CW. Hiatuses from Hell. A budget that was way too long. The world’s shittiest commercials/promos. It’s pretty darn clear they wanted to kill our show - and it’s hilarious that they didn’t. Rumours about Friday timeslots or mid-season runs next season confirm they haven’t given up on shutting us down yet, though. What’s their problem? Season six is probably it anyway - actors’ contracts run out - so why don’t they let us go out with a bang and give us some support?
2. Pacing! This is the single biggest problem with the entire season. Hiatuses must not have helped, but seriously? The show lost all sense of momentum after the first four episodes. There were quite a few filler episodes - I’m looking at you, Curious Case of Dean Winchester and Fallen Idols -and clumped together. Between The End (5x4) and Abandon All Hope (5x10) there are 5 whole episodes which don’t really advance the main story (or really the character arcs either, let’s be honest). It felt frustrating like a waste of precious time, and not very Apocalyptic at all. Even towards the end, fantastic episodes have been alternated with filler-type episodes. If you were every going to stay focused, you’d think it would have been this season. Why was the first Horseman in 5x2 and the second doesn’t show until 5x14? WHY ARE THERE 12 EPISODES BETWEEN HORSEMEN? (And then Pestilence and Death jammed into the same ep). This makes the whole ring-trap thing feel a little too convenient and out of nowhere, too. There are whole episodes that could have been cut, and the existing episodes certainly needed to be re-arranged. Things should build to a climax, not just sort of ... flop around weakly. Thank god for fanfic.
3. Misogyny. Alright, this has always been a problem for SPN, but I have 99 Problems and they’re all in that episode (5x17). The whole episode was a pile of pointless and confusing, with woman-hating-sauce on top. Did Dean actually say “On a good day, you get to kill a whore?” Seriously, who gave the writer’s permission to make that shitty episode.
4. Dropped threads (and amulets). Jesse the Anti-Christ. The amulet that heats up in God’s presence, hell, God at all! “Only an Angel can kill an Angel.” Sam’s ridiculous on-and-off demon blood addiction. Chuck the prophet. Mary and John Winchester not being in Heaven. The show likes to brign stuff up that could or should be important...and then just kind of forgets about it. Now some of this stuff could be dealt with in the finale, but probably not all of it, which means we’re all gonna be hella frustrated.
5. Why is Sam so freaking huge? (And what’s with his hair?) Okay so maybe this seems shallow. But I find Sam’s huge, body-builder type frame incredibly distracted. Honestly, either Jared’s working out way more than he needs to, or he’s on steroids or something. At first it sort of worked because of the demon blood / anger issues thing, but he’s just gotten bigger and BIGGER and BIGGER and it’s making it really difficult to focus. I keep waiting for Sam to like, explode, or run through a wall, or turn into a gorilla. I just can’t take Sam seriously anymore, and I’m a little worried about Jared’s health. (Mind you, he looks fine at cons, so wtf show?)
6. “When I imagine myself happy, it’s with you.” Worst ending of an already crappy episode (5x17) ever, y/y? Repaired slightly by the letter writing box-sending in the next episode, but whatever, it still sucked. Someone at the show was like “Oh no, we’re super gay!” and no one else was surprised, but they tried to correct it anyway with an appearance by an ex-fling Dean has really only thought of like, twice since, but who is apparently the love of his life. Attached to an already sexist episode, it came across so desperately contrived. I’m actually glad about this dropped thread - they just kind of pretended it had never happened next episode and went back to Sam/Dean/Cas love, thnxverymuch. If worried this will all come back in season six.
7. Needs moar music. Based on my completely unscientific research (read: guessing) fandom’s two favourite scenes of the entire season are: the fireworks scene with Dean and little!Sam and ‘Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door’ and pimp!Death’s entrance featuring ‘O Death.” Clearly, real music = great scene. Remember that, show.
8. Shameful underuse of Misha Collins. I was led to believe Misha had been signed on as a regular for the season, which means they could have used him much more than they did. Why didn’t they? I can only assume BECAUSE THEY ARE MORONS.
Things On the Edge:
Still redeemable flaws based on how the finale goes, or whether or not I change my mind.
1. Becky and the end of the fourth wall. Yeah, I still haven’t made up my mind about the whole thing. It’s a problem. I can tell you that if the writers/producers thing fans want to sleep with writers/producers (like Becky with Chuck) they are very very wrong. We really want to sleep with your characters/actors, or actually, mostly we just want them to sleep with each other.
2. The mythical “five year plan.” I have this theory that there has never been a five-year plan and that Kripke made that up to sweet talk the network into giving him season five. I mean, the man has said he didn’t intend for there to be angels in the show. WELL THEN HOW THE HECK COULD YOU HAVE HAD THIS FIVE YEAR PLAN? Perhaps all the pacing problems and dropped threads are making me cynical, but I have my doubts about this all coming to a neat conclusion. Too much to do, not enough time.
3. Jensen’s acting. HOLD UP GIVE ME A CHANCE TO EXPLAIN. Here’s the deal: Jensen is often a very brilliant actor. He actually becomes Dean, and it takes your breath away. That moment in 5x16 where he looks up at Mary while she’s cutting his sandwich and he’s all childlike love and awe and heartbreak? Yeah, that was amazing. But I read an interview recently where Jensen said he’s realized he needed to pace himself this season or he was going to burn out - and I can tell when he’s taking it easy. Part of it is working with good material or shitty filler material, but I can tell that sometimes Jensen is on and he’s Dean, and other times he’s acting. It’s when the comedy goes too over the top and doesn’t feel natural, when the batman voice isn’t quite right, when he’s reciting lines not living them. And I don’t know how they could fix this - I certainly don’t want Jensen to burn out or be unhappy - but it’s too noticeable a difference between spectacular and mediocre for him. Maybe they need to reorganize the schedule or something? Maybe Jensen needs to learn to meditate? I don’t know!
4. God. If God comes down and saves the day tomorrow I’m going to smash and burn my TV, but if they don’t explain anything about Him at all I’ll cry. This is basically a no-win situation they have themselves in.
5. Cas’ fall from grace. This is closely related to shameful underuse of Misha Collins, but they did this sort of inconsistently. Some episodes Cas still seemed pretty angelic, and some he seemed almost human but they weren’t following any real pattern. I had also hoped for more time with his story, but then I love Cas with the fire of a thousand burning suns PLEASE DON’T DIE BB.
Very Important Prediction: I think Cas will live because the network needs and loves Misha Collins. I mean, they must realize they have a star on their hands. How crazy would it be to let him go?!
So what did you guys all think? What are your favourite and least favourite parts of season five?