Meta: Season H8--on Sam-hate, Amelia-hate, and the direction it took SPN

[brightly_lit]

A couple nights ago, I rewatched 8.03 (to see Jensen’s dad!). Though it aired third, it was filmed first (so Jensen, who directed, would have time to prepare)--it is fun to see J2’s hiatus tans, so unlike their usual Vancouver pallor

Comments

[borgmama1of5]

All I know is that they originally intended to keep it going through season 8 and perhaps beyond.

Where did you hear about that? I would love to know what really went on in the writers' room that year! Season 8 seemas like 2 different seasons to me, one about Sam not looking for Dean (Amelia) and one about being Men of Letters and closing the Gates of Hell, and no connection between them.

What I want is for the brothers to grow up enough to be able to honestly talk to each other and accept that they can want different things and still love each other! I don't like the brokenness between them. There were other ways this season could have gone--what if Dean had taken the angel into himself in order to get the power to heal Sam?

Why couldn't Dean have kept his life with Lisa and Ben, and Sam find a girl and live nearby and they still continue to hunt? I know, classic curtainfic, but I would happily watch that!

[brightly_lit]

It was at Comic-Con--Carver was there, talking with evident excitement about the love-interest storyline. He said the writers meant for it to have its repercussions for the entire season, "... and hopefully beyond." Guess not! Because as you say, it feels like two completely different seasons, with the Amelia storyline just kinda petering out, with a barely audible whimper.

What I want is for the brothers to grow up enough to be able to honestly talk to each other and accept that they can want different things and still love each other!

Gah, yes. Yes! It shouldn't be so hard, right??

And you know, I loved Lisa and Ben and I would also have loved to see that keep going. I think it would be cool if they could somehow transition the show into a compelling curtainfic. It might have to find a mostly different audience, but hardcore fans would probably love it!

[freya922]

I actually love Season 8, especially once they get to the trials. There were some incredible episodes and brotherly moments of angst. The one thing I wish they'd resolved more is Sam's reasons for not looking for Dean. All it would have taken was one line: "I thought you were in Heaven and I was devastated but knew you were in a better place." Something like that

[brightly_lit]

All it would have taken was one line

YES, and they keep doing that to Sam, what with the "I wouldn't" [have saved your life] speech in S9. Someone left a comment on another post of mine, saying she feels the drama is contrived this season, and I can't help but agree, when a few words would fix so much.

this kind of sad relationship based on mutual loss and loneliness.

Yeah, I liked that, too--liked that she's a character who's more realistic and less idealized--more unpleasant and bitter than women almost ever get to appear on t.v. It's a good point that the relationship probably couldn't have lasted, anyway. But what was with Sam just up and leaving her in the middle of the night for no particular reason? That never gelled for me.

I mean, jeez, he's entitled to want a life of his own, and he's been through so freaking much...

YES YES YES. Dean has had it the way he wanted it for so many seasons; I'd love to see Sam finally get his turn.

Thanks for the comment.

[freya922]

I just remembered, reading your post, that Amelia's 'dead' husband also returned unexpectedly, so that simplified things for Sam, in a way. Funny, how I never quite took in before that both Sam and Amelia had their lost loved ones returned...

[liliaeth]

My problem with Sam was never that he wanted a regular life. It was that as the show put it, he never bothered to look. And then when Dean came back, instead of being happy that his brother had returned, he was pissed off that Dean's return would screw up his chances for a normal life.

All they had to do, and it's not much, is have Sam say, "I tried to find you, but there wasn't any trace and I thought you were dead."
That's all, and it would have made Sam look a million times better.

But instead they did the opposite, they had Sam blackmail Dean, basically pretty much tell him that if he dared to show any of his pain over Sam not looking for him, that he'd leave.
Acting pretty much throughout the season that he didn't want anything to do with Dean, and then at the end of the season it was suddenly "oh I never thought I was good enough and I don't want you to have anyone else"

It's that what made me hate S8 Sam, not his desire to have a normal life, but the way he treated Dean all through the season.

[balder12]

I think this is very much spot on. SPN really isn't structured to accommodate a "love interest," both because the primary emotional connection is familial, and because it's premised on the main characters *not* settling down. Like you, I wish the writers were a little more creative/enlightened in finding things for women to do besides be girlfriends or mothers (as much as I love Linda Tran

[brightly_lit]

it's premised on the main characters *not* settling down.

Yes. I was thinking after I posted this meta that when they're 22 and 26 and looking for their dad, this makes sense, whereas now, both in their 30s, the world already saved, it begins to make less sense that they remain in this lonely, dangerous life with barely any other human connections. They'd really be wanting to settle down by now ... but it doesn't work for the premise of the show. Maybe Sam could find his way around to really preferring a hunter's life, or there could be a compromise. They do have the bunker now, after all--a home of sorts.

That's a great point about her being a blocking character. I agree about women stars helping with the women-as-blocking-characters problem, but as you say, great writing can do it, too. Man, I'd love to see them use women better on SPN.

[deceptivemirror]

This is an interesting question to raise. Why do we-the-audience hate Sam and Amelia during season 8? I'm actually going to cover Amelia first, because she's the character with considerably less history than Sam.

I hated the Amelia storyline. Not because I hate seeing either boy hook up with someone (I loved Lisa, and Madison broke my heart), but because she was an annoying whiny bitch. I can't imagine her being attractive to anyone with that attitude, and the fact that she somehow landed Sam is beyond my understanding. Mutual loss, mutual loneliness, yes, but she just was not a character I found either sympathetic or interesting, particularly considering her rudeness toward Sam and her less-than-professional take on being a vet. Sam hooking up with her is basically like saying he was looking for someone to verbally abuse him at least half the time, and treat him like porcelain the other. Now, I could quite easily see them being friends, considering their shared life-pain, but that's where the writers of SPN screwed up for me

[brightly_lit]

*giggling at your commentary on Amelia* Yeahhh ... I liked the idea of the character (bitter, lonely, screwed-up woman finds love with similar man), but I thought she was handled horribly, especially in the case of:

particularly considering her rudeness toward Sam and her less-than-professional take on being a vet.

Not a good introduction to a character, bleh, and SO lazy in terms of script-writing. Some random vet guilts Sam into taking a dog, so he just does? Since when was Sam so suggestible?? It was kind of a cool idea to have them initially hostile and then find a connection, but there wasn't enough development of the relationship that felt emotionally real for it to ring true at all that he would want her (or even for her to want him). Then sometimes she's randomly perfectly sweet and nice ... a very rocky storyline, all around.

had the writers taken the time to at least say Sam tried to find Dean, or even had him somehow having some kind of meltdown at the loss,YES. Honestly, I'm still half waiting for some big reveal

[percysowner]

I'll say that my problem with Amelia was the fact that she was a lousy vet. No vet in their right mind would force a man who has made it clear that he can't care for an animal that isn't his, would force them to take it. That's just asking for animal abuse down the line. It's not like Sam wasn't willing to pay for the vet bills, which she had some right to ask for, but to say take the dog was so very wrong. I could see Sam falling for her even though she was not kind to him, to put it mildly. Sam doesn't have great self-esteem, although we see it less than we do with Dean. He has felt more and more like a failure as the show has gone on, so him hooking up with someone who makes it clear that she already thinks he's a failure at least means he won't disappoint her. It's a nice little pointer to where he ended up at the end of the season when he is willing to die, just to stop disappointing Dean

[caranfindel]

I hated the Amelia storyline. Not because I hate seeing either boy hook up with someone (I loved Lisa, and Madison broke my heart), but because she was an annoying whiny bitch.

This. So much. I think they could have actually explored the idea of a relationship, with Sam attempting to keep it going long distance and finally realizing it won't work. (Oh, but wait, they did that with the only character who's allowed to have non-brother relationships: Dean.) It would just need to be with someone I didn't want to see stabbed in the face.

[anactoria]

I don't know that it's really killing monsters that's Sam's problem (though he's definitely more about the 'saving people' part of the job than the 'hunting things' part). I mean, if he'd stayed at Stanford and become a lawyer, I can't imagine that he'd have been in it for the money; he'd probably have wanted to represent vulnerable people, those in need of legal aid (is that what you call it over there?) He has a strong sense of justice and really does want to help people, and that's why the start of s8 doesn't work for me, at least

[brightly_lit]

I remember someone saying they'd like to see more of an ensemble cast, so it probably was me you said it to. I like your idea of him being more of a research/Man of Letters guy and contributing without having to suffer all the loneliness and everything else he doesn't like about it. (Plus, an ensemble cast would give J2 more breaks from filming, which might make them interested in staying on the show for longer!)

I really can't fathom why they don't make better use of some of the wonderful characters they've invented, instead killing them or as you say, shunting them off to the side. (And seriously, what are they doing with Cas??)

Thanks for your thoughts.

[anactoria]

I really can't fathom why they don't make better use of some of the wonderful characters they've invented, instead killing them or as you say, shunting them off to the side.

I know, right? I get that the intensity of Sam and Dean's relationship is what has driven the show since the start, and the writers might fear that messing with that would undermine its appeal. But at this point, I wouldn't mind seeing that intensity and angst dialled back and not having them in each other's pockets 24/7, if it meant recapturing some of their early camaraderie when they are together. And I'm sure there must be other fans feeling that way. (Also, I just... desperately want hunter!Linda. So much it's not even funny.)

(And seriously, what are they doing with Cas??)

Who knows?? I mean, he knows where working with Crowley leads, and now his best friend is under the guy's influence. You'd think he might, IDK, check in?