Meaningless Patterns in SPN season finales and openers
Final Scenes - together or apart?
S1: together (John too)
S2: together (Bobby and Ellen too)
S3: apart (Dean in hell)
S4: together
S5: apart (Sam in the Cage)
S6: together (Cas and Bobby too)
S7: apart (Dean (and Cas) in Purgatory (and yet even they were apart))
S8: together
So, if it follows the pattern (admittedly a pattern that's not all that well-established, but it's still a pattern. And i like patterns) then s8 should end with them together. We shall see
Final Shots
S1: Dean (but Sam and John were in same shot - it pans)
S2: Both
S3: Dean (*cries forever*)
S4: Both
S5: Sam
S6: Cas (Dean was the last of the boys, just)
S7: Dean
S8: Dean
Aw, poor Sammy. Just the one. Although it was a significant one (not that any end-of-season isn't signifigant, obvs, but this specific SHOT was an especially big deal) because it made everyone go "omg wtf sam's out the cage? How long was he in there? Who got him out? He looks like he could be evil, is he evil? aaaaaaaaahh"
Beginning of Opening Episodes - Focus on Sam or Dean?
S1: In the 1983 prologue-thing, both (Dean appears first, but only just) For the main episode, Sam.
BOTH
S2: Both are in the car, although only Sam's conscious (buuut Dean is shown first)
After that section, Dean (so there's an argument to be made for any one of the three options, really... The episode as a whole
defo focuses more on Dean though)
BOTH
S3: SAM (although of course, his thoughts and conversation are all about Dean)
S4: DEAN (we don't see Sam until 13.20, for God's sake. In fact, the first person to appear other than Dean (and Castiel, technically)
isn't until 7.20, when we hear Bobby, and then we see him at 8.20. So yeah, almost 6 minutes of just Dean (not including "The
Road So Far" part) and almost 12 minutes before Sam shows)
S5: BOTH (because there was no time jump)
S6: DEAN
S7: BOTH (because there was no time jump. Sam appears first, just)
S8: DEAN (no Sam for 6.20, inc. "The Road So Far")
Strictly by whose face is onscreen first...
S1: Dean (practically the very first shot)
S2: Dean (practically the first shot)
S3: Sam (4 minutes in, inc. "The Road So Far")
S4: Dean (first shot)
S5: Both (first shot)
S6: Dean (Sam first appears in a flashback after about a minute (not inc. the "One Year Ago"), but not for real at 14.10 (again, not
inc...))
S7: Sam (first shot)
S8: Dean (don't actually see him for about a minute, but we see the bright light caused by him almost straight away)
Poor old Sam isn't doing that well with the very beginnings of seasons, is he?
One or Both of the Boys in Opening Scenes of Opening Episodes?
S1: Yes (both, and John and Mary)
S2: Yes (both, and John)
S3: No
S4: Yes (Dean) (opening shot)
S5: Yes (both) (opening shot)
S6: Yes (Dean) (opening shot)
S7: Yes (both, and Bobby) (opening shot)
S8: Yes (Dean)
Hmm, s3 looks very lonely there... Maybe because s2 didn't end with the boys in any particularly perilous situation? It wasn't a cliffhanger and they weren't seperated, so the fans wouldn't have been feeling as desperate a need to see what they were up to as at the beginning of other seasons (who is this show about then?; omg are they all dead?; get dean out of hell oh my god; shit lucifer's coming; sam's in the cage, but he's not? wtf is going on aaaah; wtf cas help; how are they gonna get out of purgatory and is sam ok?)
But they knew the big problem that year was gonna be all the demons, so they showed that - seeing as it worked as a pre-credits sequence for that specific ep too)
(I almost forgot the whole "Dean's gonna go to hell" thing. That was quite worrying i guess. But it wasn't immediate danger - they had a year. But the boys were together and they had Bobby and Ellen to help them, they'd just killed Yellow Eyes... In the short term they were clearly going to be fine)
S1: together (John too)
S2: together (Bobby and Ellen too)
S3: apart (Dean in hell)
S4: together
S5: apart (Sam in the Cage)
S6: together (Cas and Bobby too)
S7: apart (Dean (and Cas) in Purgatory (and yet even they were apart))
S8: together
So, if it follows the pattern (admittedly a pattern that's not all that well-established, but it's still a pattern. And i like patterns) then s8 should end with them together. We shall see
Final Shots
S1: Dean (but Sam and John were in same shot - it pans)
S2: Both
S3: Dean (*cries forever*)
S4: Both
S5: Sam
S6: Cas (Dean was the last of the boys, just)
S7: Dean
S8: Dean
Aw, poor Sammy. Just the one. Although it was a significant one (not that any end-of-season isn't signifigant, obvs, but this specific SHOT was an especially big deal) because it made everyone go "omg wtf sam's out the cage? How long was he in there? Who got him out? He looks like he could be evil, is he evil? aaaaaaaaahh"
Beginning of Opening Episodes - Focus on Sam or Dean?
S1: In the 1983 prologue-thing, both (Dean appears first, but only just) For the main episode, Sam.
BOTH
S2: Both are in the car, although only Sam's conscious (buuut Dean is shown first)
After that section, Dean (so there's an argument to be made for any one of the three options, really... The episode as a whole
defo focuses more on Dean though)
BOTH
S3: SAM (although of course, his thoughts and conversation are all about Dean)
S4: DEAN (we don't see Sam until 13.20, for God's sake. In fact, the first person to appear other than Dean (and Castiel, technically)
isn't until 7.20, when we hear Bobby, and then we see him at 8.20. So yeah, almost 6 minutes of just Dean (not including "The
Road So Far" part) and almost 12 minutes before Sam shows)
S5: BOTH (because there was no time jump)
S6: DEAN
S7: BOTH (because there was no time jump. Sam appears first, just)
S8: DEAN (no Sam for 6.20, inc. "The Road So Far")
Strictly by whose face is onscreen first...
S1: Dean (practically the very first shot)
S2: Dean (practically the first shot)
S3: Sam (4 minutes in, inc. "The Road So Far")
S4: Dean (first shot)
S5: Both (first shot)
S6: Dean (Sam first appears in a flashback after about a minute (not inc. the "One Year Ago"), but not for real at 14.10 (again, not
inc...))
S7: Sam (first shot)
S8: Dean (don't actually see him for about a minute, but we see the bright light caused by him almost straight away)
Poor old Sam isn't doing that well with the very beginnings of seasons, is he?
One or Both of the Boys in Opening Scenes of Opening Episodes?
S1: Yes (both, and John and Mary)
S2: Yes (both, and John)
S3: No
S4: Yes (Dean) (opening shot)
S5: Yes (both) (opening shot)
S6: Yes (Dean) (opening shot)
S7: Yes (both, and Bobby) (opening shot)
S8: Yes (Dean)
Hmm, s3 looks very lonely there... Maybe because s2 didn't end with the boys in any particularly perilous situation? It wasn't a cliffhanger and they weren't seperated, so the fans wouldn't have been feeling as desperate a need to see what they were up to as at the beginning of other seasons (who is this show about then?; omg are they all dead?; get dean out of hell oh my god; shit lucifer's coming; sam's in the cage, but he's not? wtf is going on aaaah; wtf cas help; how are they gonna get out of purgatory and is sam ok?)
But they knew the big problem that year was gonna be all the demons, so they showed that - seeing as it worked as a pre-credits sequence for that specific ep too)
(I almost forgot the whole "Dean's gonna go to hell" thing. That was quite worrying i guess. But it wasn't immediate danger - they had a year. But the boys were together and they had Bobby and Ellen to help them, they'd just killed Yellow Eyes... In the short term they were clearly going to be fine)