I don't know. I'm just finding the more I speculate about where the show might end up, the more disengaged and depressed I feel. I'm thinking that I ought to stop thinking, you know? Just watch each episode, grumble about the dross, enjoy the fun parts when we get them, and otherwise be like Elsa and let it go.
I really wish they'd let Jensen show run this last season.
This is a really valid way to approach the show, and not unwise! I have ONE speculation (and I've heard other folks echo it too) so that's probably as far as I'll get on that front.
I'm here for the long haul, sitting right beside you both. I'm no longer invested in the show the way I was though. Maybe that's sad, but it's how I too can enjoy the good bits... by letting the disappointments go.
I totally agree with your overall assessment. At this stage, the current showrunners aren't just standing on the shoulders of giants, they're shitting on them. For years now, the only way I've been able to continue watching without destroying myself with rage is to regard only the first five seasons as 'canon', and everything since as professional fan-fiction of varying quality - though this latest season is becoming so destructive as to qualify more accurately as hate-fic.
At this stage, the current showrunners aren't just standing on the shoulders of giants, they're shitting on them.
I think Dabb was taking a very comic book approach to show-running, and has been trying to put his own "spin" on the SPN universe. (You know how comics have a bazillion AUs? Batman. The Dark Knight. Robin. Nightwing. Slade. Etc. etc. ad nauseum) But his version of the 'verse is the hottest of messes. He has questionable taste, longs for an ensemble cast (that he doesn't have the spoons to steer), and allows too many cooks in the kitchen, imho. He lets Singer, BuckLeming and Berens have a say and it winds up looking like one of those garbage burgers with EVERYTHING on 'em so you think you're getting the best of, well, everything, but is actually an ugly heart attack on a plate and you wind up with half of it all over your shirt.
Now, I do think he's finally trying to channel earlier seasons for 15, and return to what made SPN the phenomenon that it is (was?). But he's still stuck on putting plot before character, which is
( ... )
I would have to say I pretty much agree with all of this. I do kind of like that through Dean's unhappiness, they're investigating the idea of free will and if they've even made their own choices this whole time (my rewatch is up to S5, so this has been on my mind lately). I don't like the idea of it negating all of their struggles, but hey, if you're going to have God as a character in your 'verse, it has to come up now and again.
And I loooooooove that the visions Sam is having are not only of Darkchesters, but are showing his connection to Chuck. I hope that's something they can work with for the rest of the season, though as you say, given the track record so far, I'm not so hopeful.
Having the literal Deux ex Machina drive the plot, with the premise that he's a bad and lazy writer, is a very convenient free pass for bad and lazy writing.
Oh yeah, the writing metaphor is way over the top. It's the same reason French Mistake was so awful: it's an inside joke among the people who make the show. It's not for the audience. That was understandable for one episode, but to structure the whole season around God-as-writer is a little too much.
> I'm not going to pretend I like what Dabb is proposing.
I'm not so sure we should blame Dabb for this. Whatever his weaknesses in plotting an overall season arc, he's convinced me in the past few seasons that he is a genuine fan of the original show and loves Sam and Dean, and their relationship. But I think he actually has less power than you'd think as "showrunner". Notice his name is below Singer's on the end credits. I suspect that Buckleming actually have more say than he does and we should probably regard them and/or Singer as the true masteminds behind this last season. God help us all.
Yeah, I wouldn't argue here! (I said something similar above, before I got to this comment.)
Dabb is like this over-excited kid who wants to do ALL THE THINGS and include everyone and make everyone happy!!!! But what winds up happening is there's no focus, no consistency, no vision, no over-arching theme, and you end up making no one happy. (And no, "family" is not a theme. It's a word that actually says nothing about the show's stance on family. A theme might be "What if your family is actually bad for you but you love and need them anyways?" Or summat.)
Dabb's guidance as showrunner is slippery at best. But he's the guy with the title, so.
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I really wish they'd let Jensen show run this last season.
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*huggles*
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I think Dabb was taking a very comic book approach to show-running, and has been trying to put his own "spin" on the SPN universe. (You know how comics have a bazillion AUs? Batman. The Dark Knight. Robin. Nightwing. Slade. Etc. etc. ad nauseum) But his version of the 'verse is the hottest of messes. He has questionable taste, longs for an ensemble cast (that he doesn't have the spoons to steer), and allows too many cooks in the kitchen, imho. He lets Singer, BuckLeming and Berens have a say and it winds up looking like one of those garbage burgers with EVERYTHING on 'em so you think you're getting the best of, well, everything, but is actually an ugly heart attack on a plate and you wind up with half of it all over your shirt.
Now, I do think he's finally trying to channel earlier seasons for 15, and return to what made SPN the phenomenon that it is (was?). But he's still stuck on putting plot before character, which is ( ... )
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And I loooooooove that the visions Sam is having are not only of Darkchesters, but are showing his connection to Chuck. I hope that's something they can work with for the rest of the season, though as you say, given the track record so far, I'm not so hopeful.
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I'm not so sure we should blame Dabb for this. Whatever his weaknesses in plotting an overall season arc, he's convinced me in the past few seasons that he is a genuine fan of the original show and loves Sam and Dean, and their relationship. But I think he actually has less power than you'd think as "showrunner". Notice his name is below Singer's on the end credits. I suspect that Buckleming actually have more say than he does and we should probably regard them and/or Singer as the true masteminds behind this last season. God help us all.
Reply
Dabb is like this over-excited kid who wants to do ALL THE THINGS and include everyone and make everyone happy!!!! But what winds up happening is there's no focus, no consistency, no vision, no over-arching theme, and you end up making no one happy. (And no, "family" is not a theme. It's a word that actually says nothing about the show's stance on family. A theme might be "What if your family is actually bad for you but you love and need them anyways?" Or summat.)
Dabb's guidance as showrunner is slippery at best. But he's the guy with the title, so.
Reply
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