Reflections on Season 8 of SPN
OK, I've been tinkering with this way too long. I'm just going to post what I have and see what happens.
Now that the finale is well in the past and I’ve had a chance to see a couple re-runs of early season 8 episodes, I thought it’d be a good time to take a look back and reflect on what’s happened and where we’re headed. I started out the season being excited about our new show runner and confident that things were going to be better than they’d been the last couple of seasons. Although there were a number of things I liked about season 8, there were also times I wondered if we would have been better off sticking with the devil we knew (Sera Gamble).
At the beginning of this season I was stymied by Sam’s failure to look for Dean. I was sure there was more to it and I was angered when there was no forthcoming explanation. I was also really angered in the beginning by Sam’s attitude towards Dean’s relationship with Benny. Then a very wise person pointed out to me that there wasn’t much value in wishing things had happened differently. She insisted that wishing the show were telling a different story would only lead to anger and resentment and if I wanted to explore other possibilities she suggested that I should turn to fan fiction. She assured me I would find the show much more enjoyable if I found a way to accept the story our show was actually telling us instead (I'm taking some liberties here, but this was the idea) So, I did my level best to see it from Sam’s POV and as I did I began to understand that Sam was actually jealous of Benny and felt threatened by him. I started to realize that these feelings were being fueled by his guilt over not looking for Dean. Sam & Dean have such an extremely close relationship - so much closer than any normal siblings - that I think Sam must have felt like he was being replaced. Like Dean had found himself a better brother, one he could count on. Maybe he wasn’t even sure if Dean loved him anymore. So he vented his anger and frustration on the outsider he felt was usurping his place.
I liked Benny. I liked the idea of a “good” monster. Dean accepting his help in Purgatory seemed like a natural progression for him. Monsters had always been black and white to Dean, but lately they’d begun acquiring shades of grey. Sam had helped him to see that not all monsters were killers. He was learning to see things from Sam’s point of view and this gave me hope that Sam might begin to see some things from Dean’s point of view. And in the end, I guess he did. When Sam returned from Purgatory he finally admitted, though it seemed somewhat grudgingly, that Benny was worthy of Dean’s friendship. I wanted him to see more though. I’m hoping that maybe we’ll get further down this road next season. Jeremy Carver has said that they’re men now and their relationship is maturing. I just hope he follows through on that thought.
I have to admit, I’m not on the edge of my seat for next season as I have been for past seasons. I think that’s partly because I have a sense that the writers didn’t really know where they were headed. I think this is proven by how uneven this season has been . The one thing I found most frustrating about this season was the sheer number of stand alone episodes and how stingy the writers were the myth arc. To simply say there were far too many stand alone episodes only addresses one aspect of the problem. The flipside is that on the far too few occasions when we did get an episode dealing with the myth arc, it never seemed to last more than one episode. There would be so much crammed into 43 minutes that it never felt like the story was allowed to develop organically. Most of this season’s myth arc would have benefited greatly if it’s elements could have been spread out over multiple episodes. Instead scenes were rushed and situations were contrived to manipulate characters into position. Sometimes canon was so blatantly ignored that I wondered if the writers even knew what show they were writing for.
I got the impression that they had an idea, but decided they didn’t like where it was headed so they stalled while they came up with something else. Then suddenly they had this great idea, but not enough time to tell it. So, they finally get us interested in the story and now they’re making us wait for next season to finish it. I’m not sure how I feel about all the angels being kicked pout of heaven. I think it could lead us to some really interesting places, but I’m also afraid that they still haven’t fleshed out the idea and if that’s true, it could all fall flat. My hopes is that next season will have better consistency in both the storytelling and it’s pacing, a meatier myth arc that the writers allow to develop organically and that canon is better respected.
Now that the finale is well in the past and I’ve had a chance to see a couple re-runs of early season 8 episodes, I thought it’d be a good time to take a look back and reflect on what’s happened and where we’re headed. I started out the season being excited about our new show runner and confident that things were going to be better than they’d been the last couple of seasons. Although there were a number of things I liked about season 8, there were also times I wondered if we would have been better off sticking with the devil we knew (Sera Gamble).
At the beginning of this season I was stymied by Sam’s failure to look for Dean. I was sure there was more to it and I was angered when there was no forthcoming explanation. I was also really angered in the beginning by Sam’s attitude towards Dean’s relationship with Benny. Then a very wise person pointed out to me that there wasn’t much value in wishing things had happened differently. She insisted that wishing the show were telling a different story would only lead to anger and resentment and if I wanted to explore other possibilities she suggested that I should turn to fan fiction. She assured me I would find the show much more enjoyable if I found a way to accept the story our show was actually telling us instead (I'm taking some liberties here, but this was the idea) So, I did my level best to see it from Sam’s POV and as I did I began to understand that Sam was actually jealous of Benny and felt threatened by him. I started to realize that these feelings were being fueled by his guilt over not looking for Dean. Sam & Dean have such an extremely close relationship - so much closer than any normal siblings - that I think Sam must have felt like he was being replaced. Like Dean had found himself a better brother, one he could count on. Maybe he wasn’t even sure if Dean loved him anymore. So he vented his anger and frustration on the outsider he felt was usurping his place.
I liked Benny. I liked the idea of a “good” monster. Dean accepting his help in Purgatory seemed like a natural progression for him. Monsters had always been black and white to Dean, but lately they’d begun acquiring shades of grey. Sam had helped him to see that not all monsters were killers. He was learning to see things from Sam’s point of view and this gave me hope that Sam might begin to see some things from Dean’s point of view. And in the end, I guess he did. When Sam returned from Purgatory he finally admitted, though it seemed somewhat grudgingly, that Benny was worthy of Dean’s friendship. I wanted him to see more though. I’m hoping that maybe we’ll get further down this road next season. Jeremy Carver has said that they’re men now and their relationship is maturing. I just hope he follows through on that thought.
I have to admit, I’m not on the edge of my seat for next season as I have been for past seasons. I think that’s partly because I have a sense that the writers didn’t really know where they were headed. I think this is proven by how uneven this season has been . The one thing I found most frustrating about this season was the sheer number of stand alone episodes and how stingy the writers were the myth arc. To simply say there were far too many stand alone episodes only addresses one aspect of the problem. The flipside is that on the far too few occasions when we did get an episode dealing with the myth arc, it never seemed to last more than one episode. There would be so much crammed into 43 minutes that it never felt like the story was allowed to develop organically. Most of this season’s myth arc would have benefited greatly if it’s elements could have been spread out over multiple episodes. Instead scenes were rushed and situations were contrived to manipulate characters into position. Sometimes canon was so blatantly ignored that I wondered if the writers even knew what show they were writing for.
I got the impression that they had an idea, but decided they didn’t like where it was headed so they stalled while they came up with something else. Then suddenly they had this great idea, but not enough time to tell it. So, they finally get us interested in the story and now they’re making us wait for next season to finish it. I’m not sure how I feel about all the angels being kicked pout of heaven. I think it could lead us to some really interesting places, but I’m also afraid that they still haven’t fleshed out the idea and if that’s true, it could all fall flat. My hopes is that next season will have better consistency in both the storytelling and it’s pacing, a meatier myth arc that the writers allow to develop organically and that canon is better respected.