Supernatural Favourite Episodes
I can't do lists. I can't pick favourites, I'm way too indecisive for that. So this is probably not entirely accurate, but hey, this is me trying, as promised (I doubt anyone really cares, though! LOL). There must be some episodes that should have made the list and didn't or some that shouldn't have but did, but I'll have to do another show rewatch
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To be honest, I've been bored since S7. It's been a long time since I felt the writer's hearts were still really in it and the last few seasons have very much felt like 'going through the motions' for me. I just can't help but feel that the show past its prime years ago at that it should have ended on a creative high ("Swan Song") rather than die an agonisingly drawn-out death. If I'm not mistaken, the CW has thrown around the idea of 10 seasons which I just find utterly depressing, really.
I agree that s3/4 has the best balance between MoTW and mytharc. I loved Ruby too, and while I never fully trusted her, I was disappointed when it turned out that it had always been a scheme to free Lucifer on her part.:(
Word. I didn't necessarily need Ruby to be “good” but I think her ending robbed the story of some of its complexity. And I know I’m in the minority here, but I found her death really unsatisfactory. I know a lot of fans love it because Sam/Dean “kill her together” (how heart-warming! *g*) but I’d have much rather Ruby survive S4 so that we could have had a less rushed resolution to her relationship with Sam. It all just happens very quickly and I think it would have been better to see Sam confront Ruby in S5 under less chaotic circumstances.
Also, if the show had ended as intended with season 5, I would have HATED that ending, way too bleak. With the show still going there's still the chance (absolutely not the guarantee, though) for a better ending, and while season 6 and 7 had their problems (the treatment of Castiel's character is the main one for me), I'm not sorry that the show is still on air.
It would have been bleak but I don't actually need a happy ending. I'm still unconvinced that whenever the show finally does end that the series finale will be able to match Kripe's goodbye in "Swan Song." It will just feel repetitive to me as that episode already summed up so much about the brother's relationship, as well as the importance of the Impala etc. It would have been a rather heartbreaking ending but at the same time it offers perfect resolution for the characters. Sam was able to redeem himself from the mistakes he made in S4, Dean was able to leave hunting behind, Cas and Bobby went their separate ways etc.
I'm not saying the story couldn't have continued but as of yet I don't think the writers have justified why it did. S6 was ok-ish but I've been very underwhelmed by S7 & S8. I can't think of a single episode or story arc which made me think "Yes! I'm so glad the show continued because I needed to see this."
This mirrors exactly what happened in the Buffy fandom, with people begrudging the show's later seasons and claiming that it should have ended with The Gift (another ending that I would have HATED). ;)
I would have hated if it had ended with "The Gift" too. However, that's because there's plenty of stories throughout S6 & S7 that proved to me the show needed to continue. We would have never got the musical, or Buffy's depression, or Spike's redemption, or the payoff to Willow's darkness, and most of all the show would have ended with Buffy SUCCUMBING to her destiny rather than radically altering it in Chosen. The last two seasons of BtVS are certainly controversial (the comics even more so) but the writers justified their existence for me. BtVS is a feminist text and it would have been wrong for the series to end with the heroine sacrificing herself for others. Despite its flaws, S7 was necessary for the deconstruction of the patriarchy and its oppressive hold on the Slayer legacy. It's far more fitting that it ends with Buffy sharing her power and surviving Sunnydale.
With SN… I’m just yet to find anything about S6/S7/S8 that makes me realise it needed to continue past S5.
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Season 7 is my least favourite, I found it very dull, so I won't argue there. You won't find me defending Sera Gamble's tenure, as I don't really like the direction she took the show in (despite liking several individual episodes, especially season 6) and the choices she made (stripping the brothers of everything and everyone and going back to the MotW-heavy format). So it's not that the show couldn't or shouldn't have continued after season 5... it's that the showrunner they picked did a terrible job.
I don't think Carver is doing a perfect job so far (especially when it comes to Sam and Dean - even though I understand the difficulty of keeping the relationship between the two main characters fresh after 8 years. That's why the show needs more recurring characters who are around on a regular basis... the last thing a show in its 8th season needs is to keep killing off all his side characters), but I am very interested in the mytharc that he is shaping out (the tablets and closing the gates to hell). If this is the arc that wraps up the show, imo it's way more satisfying than Sam or Sam/Dean falling down the pit with the Devil. This way they really have the chance to make a difference for good and change things for the better.
So if they manage to find a better pacing (and give me more Cas) I see potential for good things. I may very well be disappointed, it doesn't take much to turn me against a show...
And I know I’m in the minority here, but I found her death really unsatisfactory.
I agree!! I find Ruby's death really rushed and underwhelming, and it made Ruby way less complex and interesting in retrospect. They didn't have to kill her... she could have escaped and she could have come back as antagonist (with mixed feelings towards Sam) in season 5. So much wasted potential...
It would have been bleak but I don't actually need a happy ending.
I don't expect a happily-ever-after ending, it wouldn't fit the show. But I also don't want a completely tragic and bleak one. Narratively, you don't put your characters and viewers through hell for years without offering a ray of light in the end. Both the characters and the fans have earnt the right to a silver lining, imo!! And here's hoping that continuing the show will have been worth it in the end... otherwise I'll agree that they should just have ended it at Swan Song.
With SN… I’m just yet to find anything about S6/S7/S8 that makes me realise it needed to continue past S5.
The necessity to not have such a horrible ending?? LOL That's the only thing I can offer, other than the network wanted it to continue.
As for me, as long as Castiel is around I'm invested. After the disaster of season 6/7 (I actually stopped watching after 7.02. I caught up with the rest of the season only during the following summer) I'm grateful to still have the chance to see his story unfold as he seeks redempion (until they don't screw him over again, that is).
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