Supernatural season… what season are we on now?
It’s sad when you want to stay interested in a fandom, but the writers are doing everything in their power to push you away.
The quality of SPN has been steadily decreasing since season five, but this season's drop has been precipitous. The characters have had their memories erased, apparently?
The thing that gets me the most is that one of Dean's core traits is missing, no one onscreen has noticed, and it was one of the only intriguing/complex things left that kept me interested in the character. Ever since Dean Winchester had his mother and home and security ripped away when he was four, he has longed to have it back, and believed he didn't deserve it, and convinced himself he didn't want it, and repressed, repressed, repressed. This is what "What Is and What Should Never Be" was largely about? And the reason he was so entranced by the idea of Lisa and Ben? And it all tied into his arc about being "tired" of the hunting life, and when things didn't work out with Lisa, into his arc about believing he's a "monster" and doesn't deserve those things he wants? But we know he actually still wants them, and hates himself for it, and tries to drink the longing away.
So I know we can kind of fanwank that this new "I'm 100% a hunter and I love doing it and I don't want anything else!" Dean is not a flat pastiche of Dean in 1x01 but actually a consequence of purgatory somehow "purifying" Dean's desire for a safe/happy/family-oriented life out of him, but you know what just makes no sense is how when Sam took a year off to cavort with elf woman and dog, and they argued about it, neither character thought to bring up the fact that Dean himself had done the exact same thing. No "Dean, how dare you criticize me when you did this too," no mixed feelings from Dean, no "Sam, I tried normal and it didn't work therefore it's impossible that anyone could ever succeed," nothing? Really?
And Dean's alcoholism has also been dropped? Another case of pretending the past four seasons didn't happen?
And Sam. If I was a Sam fan, I'd be pissed. Unless they literally have an explanation like "he was replaced by a body snatcher," nothing Sam's done all season matches up to anything we've learned about Sam Winchester in the past eight years. The obsessed nutjob from "Mystery Spot" didn't even bother to look for his lost brother? He's going around claiming that he never lived "normal" before even though HELLO THE PREMIERE EPISODE where he's been at Stanford and with Jessica for years? The Dean who stole Christmas presents for him never once managed to get him a birthday cake? What even is this?
The family dynamics and character relationships were so perfectly drawn and complex and fascinating in the first four seasons of this show; it's painful to see them trashed like this.
And don't even get me started on the relentless fridging of women that's kicked back into high gear.
On the plus side, it seems like Bobby might actually be (*cross your fingers*) really truly gone this time?
Another plus, Jensen Ackles is still pretty?
I wish they'd just kill off Sam and make Castiel the co-lead. At least he has potential character traits left to explore, plus the guy can actually act.
Anyway it's sad. There is not enough Loki fanfiction to keep me fully occupied with Avengers, but SPN is giving me nothing but annoyance.
Originally published at rusty-halo.com. Please comment there or at Dreamwidth.