Musings about the Quality of Storytelling

[gwaevalarin]

I'm watching all the reactions to the season 8 spoilers here and on tumblr, and it has me thinking about why people with similar preferences react so differently, my own feelings about them, and about the quality of the show in general

Comments

[raths_kitten]

You know what I'm thinking? Cas will not show up in the "real life" timeline at all and we'll only see him in the flashbacks, to keep the mystery about what the hell happened. And they'll reveal it in the Christmas hiatus cliffhanger episode, whatever it is. But I would not be surprised if he did scarifise himself for Dean, or is still stuck in purgatory and he only helped Dean get out.

I agree though. Some episodes were great last season, but the overall arc was just crap. It has to be really bad to even get the actors (*coughs*Misha*coughs*) to openly adress it.

[gwaevalarin]

That's the one thing I'm still afraid of, and I can't decide if it's actually likely to happen, or if it's just what would happen if Sera was still in control.

You know what would be really great, though? If they started the storyline like this, you know, Dean being back, no Cas, Dean refuses to talk about what happened, Cas only in flashbacks, etc. And then after a few episodes there is the big reveal - but hey, we all 'know' already that Cas sacrificed himself for Dean in Purgatory, right? - and it turns out that it's something else entirely, something actually unexpected.
If someone could pull this off it's Jeremy Carver, the man who gave us a hilarious Trickster episode, just to reveal at the end that the Trickster is really the archangel Gabriel.

[raths_kitten]

Yes, that's what I'm hoping for also. Maybe Dean had to hurt Cas or vice versa down there, so that's why Dean doesn't want to talk about it and we don't see Cas. Of course I'm hoping they got "really close", all alone against the monsters, and Dean's embarrassed about that, but that'll never actually happen on the show. ;)

Cas might be off on his own hunt for someone and Dean didn't want to help him because he chose to be with Sam instead and now he has a bad conscience because he left Cas alone instead. Ah, we'll see. I'm excited he's even gonna be in the season at all. And Crowley will be in it a lot as well from what I gathered.

[gwaevalarin]

There are a lot of different possibilities. They might even get out together, but split up then. So I really hope they pick a storyline that's actually fresh and does justice to both their characters.

It does seem Crowley will be in this season a lot, and I'm very much looking forward to that.

I'm also curious about at least one of the new characters and the change of dynamics he/she might bring into the mix.

[rogueslayer452]

You hit the nail on the head perfectly.

What it all comes down to has always been about the quality of storytelling, and how the last seasons severely lacked it. There were tons of amazing concepts and arcs that could have been interesting to delve into, if only they were handled correctly. But they weren't. Most of them were ignored entirely, if not butchered and ruining the continuity of the story itself.

Season six, I felt, was just a huge clutter of stuff and it was evident that they clearly didn't know where to turn to for any sort of direction because of how claustrophobic it was with all that stuff.

Season seven didn't have enough going on, and spent too much time on random fillers instead of focusing the main seasonal arc and character arcs in general

[gwaevalarin]

Everytime I get worried about next season, I remember that these two have written most of my favourite episodes, and that they have always treated the angels as characters in their own rights. Not to mention that they don't just make crazy episodes like "Changing Channels" and "The French Mistake" work, but also manage to tie them into the mythology of the show beautifully.

[rackoninnc]

I'm hoping that the lack of any "real" spoilers about Castiel continues. Part of the problem with 7 IMHO was that they spoiled the hell out of Castiel's return, so we pretty much knew what was going to happen with a few exceptions. They kept Bobby under wraps, so they should have respected Castiel's character enough to do the same for him. Granted, it probably was a lot easier to cover up Bobby's return, but it made the moment of his return much more exciting.

I have faith that they can turn this runaway bad story telling train around and make Season 8 a good one, so I'm going to sit back...avoid spoilers like the plague...and see what happens!

[gwaevalarin]

Yes, you do have a point there. They told us way too much last season, especially before 7x17 when we knew pretty much the entire episode already.

I personally would like to know a little bit just so I know I don't have to worry too much. But I'm probably just still slightly traumatized from the last two seasons here, and I should rather learn to trust the writers again.

[littlehollyleaf]

I agree with you, actually about everything

[gwaevalarin]

I never WANTED that storyline, but I'm sure Jeremy Carver could have done it justice, and would have made it a good one... two years ago.
Most things that went wrong the last few seasons can probably be fixed, but this storyline.... it's ruined for good.

There has been absolutely no indication from the writer that this is where they plan on going with Cas. They haven't really told us anything about his arc. I sometimes have to remind myself that it's only fandom theories that have me worried.
I should probably try to learn to trust the writers again, and not expect the worst case anymore.