Unfortunately, I have to wholly agree with you. I still watch the show, obviously, but mostly out of loyalty to Jensen&Jared and Sam&Dean and not because I have a lot of interest in the 'story' the show is telling. And I still write about the show, but mostly because I like the exercise and not because I find many deep things to say about the episodes. I still enjoy moments/scenes between the brothers, but I lost any interest in what counts as an overarching storyline or mythology these days. While I find S9 so far easier to watch than S8, the general problems I have with the writing since Carver took over stayed the same - lack of continuity, disregard for past canon where mythology and characterisation are concerned, lack of focus, nuance and emotional depth, repetitive storytelling and so on and so forth. Supernatural is just no longer the show I fell in love with; it has become a pale imitation of itself. It is like Carver tried to identify what the fans liked in past seasons and then set out to recreate the magic, but it is all
( ... )
I've been reading your reviews, because you always have interesting things to say. And I admit I keep hoping I'll find something that shows I've missed the point completely and it's brilliant after all. A girl can dream
( ... )
ROFL thanks for reading, although I really don't have many insightful things to say. Admittedly, I don't spend as much time on reviews as I used to, and I don't think too much about the episodes, because I don't feel inspired to. *shrugs*
Like you, I am often bored while watching an episode, but I do somewhat enjoy the Ezekiel storyline, mostly because of its potential. I don't have many hopes that the writers will do that potential justice, though. Unlike you, I kinda like Abaddon, but then, I never cared about demons and their mythology as much as you do. I am just happy that Crowley is no longer the main antagonist. And I do like the Batcave. I feel the brothers have earned some comfort and stability, and I love seeing them all domestic. However, the writers don't use it in a meaningful manner. Considering that having a stable home presents such a radical change in the brothers' living conditions (and thus in the road movie character of the show), one would expect the writers to make it a relevant topic and explore how it affects
( ... )
Like you, I am often bored while watching an episode, but I do somewhat enjoy the Ezekiel storyline, mostly because of its potential. I don't have many hopes that the writers will do that potential justice, though. Unlike you, I kinda like Abaddon, but then, I never cared about demons and their mythology as much as you do. I am just happy that Crowley is no longer the main antagonist.
Well, I should clarify that Abaddon is a lot of fun, and she's really got a handle on the femme fatale act. It's just that she seems like a cartoon villain. In a lot of ways she's indistinguishable from season-eight Crowley, except that she has no history to contradict so her 'I'm so evil! Look at me I'm taking over the world! Look how cool I am!' act isn't bizarre and incoherent the way Crowley's was. It just doesn't seem like they have anything new to do with demons. They're evil for evil's sake.
And as for Ezekiel ... I do take the point from your review that Ezekiel's deus ex machina status is built in to the plot. But in practice I still get tired
( ... )
Yeah, having not heard from you I figured as much. And..damn it…you make a lot of good points. Luckily (hee…or not), I'm not bored yet. I don't know why exactly (I probably should be) but I'm still really interested to see where they are going and I'm still enjoying that god damn brother bond.
The show has changed. It had to - that's a given, but it doesn't have the purpose and urgency it used to have. I'm still enjoying it as a "new" show though. I mean, I dearly wish it had a lot less angel (aka Cas) stuff in it, but I've had to make my peace with that.
I also approach it all with a different head on these days. I don't look for the depth I used to (I look for props!) and I don't try and make sense of canon any more (we'll have an episode where Dean is patting a cat soon and forget completely that he's apparently allergic to them). I look at my pretty boys and hope that in a episode there'll be some action and enough intrigue to keep me a bit interested (I'm shallow like that).
I'm glad you've found a way to keep enjoying the show. I wish I was enjoying it more than I am. I mean, I'm not marching out of the fandom in a huff or anything. I watch, I read, I wait patiently until the next time Robbie Thompson writes something, because even if the Oz story didn't really grab me I still think he's pretty damn good.
I'm just a little sad at the moment, because new episodes used to make me want to think and write and put all the pieces together.
I have this (rather weird) idea that the bunker has been created as their "home" so that by the end of the series it can be destroyed and they will be back to where they started - but not so they are "desperately" on the road (looking for John, a way out of a deal, a way solve messes they have made etc), but because theychose to be there. It will almost be full circle - only this time the road is home because they want it to be, not because it has to be.
I think because the show needs to do more than have them constantly travel from motel to motel they had to create a space that's almost like a "Bobby". - a wealth of information - a treasure trove of answers. It should also become a place that they need to defend in a major way some day - it's set up to be destroyed one day.
It could be because I still love the show (and want to keep loving it *g*) that I accept what they are doing at the moment. I think the bunker is an inspired choice for this time in the series. I am even coming to grips with the angel story - purely
( ... )
Wow, that sums it up so very well. Thank you for sharing your thoughts, which are much more succinct, insightful, and coherent than any I've had about the show in a while. You put your finger exactly on all the reasons I have disliked the bunker and the MoL since they were introduced-despite the fact that I love curtain!fic and domesticity, and have tried to love the bunker in that light, it didn't sit well with me, and I resented it. Now I can explain why!
I don't know about coherent. That would be a bit much for stream-of-consciousness thoughts tapped out on my iPad. But thank you. :)
I have a soft spot for curtain fiction too, and I think the bunker might have worked as an ending. I've enjoyed some of the domestic scenes there as things unto themselves, just ... not so much as part of a larger narrative.
I think in some ways the set-up for this season is absolutely brilliant as an enactment of fundamental problems, though I think they've gone darker than they are going to be willing to face the consequences of. Dean, because of his childhood, defines himself as a protector, primarily of Sam, and has trouble perceiving others as autonomous, independent subjects because of this. Sam, because of his childhood, has difficulty forming a self in the context of his family, and simultaneously has his selfhood under various forms of supernatural siege. And now they've brought that together: Dean has literally acted to erase and displace parts of Sam, selling out Sam's status as subject to preserve Sam as protected object; Sam's family is now the source of supernatural alteration, the two forces pressuring him have made an alliance
( ... )
And now they've brought that together: Dean has literally acted to erase and displace parts of Sam, selling out Sam's status as subject to preserve Sam as protected object; Sam's family is now the source of supernatural alteration, the two forces pressuring him have made an alliance.
Well, yeah. That sounds wonderful. And if I could convince myself that they were actually telling a story like that, and it was going to lead to character development and meaningful change and some sort of exploration of how relationships (broken or otherwise) work, I'd probably be engrossed. I just ... can't
( ... )
In a way, they went from the on-the-road story where character mattered to something more like Batman, rich with a cool cave and batmobile. Or even like James Bond where a lot of the fun is in Q's crazy inventions. It's a more stuff driven story now, if that makes any sense. I'm struggling enough with the story arc that unfortunately I'm enjoying the stuff more than watching Sam and Dean. When Sam was going down his good intentions road in S4, I still liked Sam and worried about him. Now Dean, my guy, has been going down his own road to ruin while dragging Sam through another version of Sam's Hell. They've written Dean as such an ass at some points that I'm having a rough time staying emotionally connected to his story. But hey, they have a cool garage now and their own personal NORAD so I guess I'll enjoy that and the fact that Crowley can't torture anyone while he's chained in the dungeon, snarking and pining after Sam.
That makes perfect sense. Stuff happens and the heroes have the stuff to deal with it. I've just never really been a big fan of superhero or James Bond stories. The gadgets or powers reach critical mass and there goes my ability to care about the story. :)
It is quite difficult to connect with the characters these days. One of the great strengths of season four, I think, was that Sam should have been right. Every time he said 'I didn't ask for this and I'm just trying to do something good with it' - that was a good, moral and even healthy argument. The clearer it became that the deck was stacked against him and that his good intentions couldn't compete with the will of the people who wanted to use him, the story became a little more tragic. Now all I can think is 'Really? Have we learnt nothing?'
Comments 15
Reply
Reply
Like you, I am often bored while watching an episode, but I do somewhat enjoy the Ezekiel storyline, mostly because of its potential. I don't have many hopes that the writers will do that potential justice, though. Unlike you, I kinda like Abaddon, but then, I never cared about demons and their mythology as much as you do. I am just happy that Crowley is no longer the main antagonist. And I do like the Batcave. I feel the brothers have earned some comfort and stability, and I love seeing them all domestic. However, the writers don't use it in a meaningful manner. Considering that having a stable home presents such a radical change in the brothers' living conditions (and thus in the road movie character of the show), one would expect the writers to make it a relevant topic and explore how it affects ( ... )
Reply
Well, I should clarify that Abaddon is a lot of fun, and she's really got a handle on the femme fatale act. It's just that she seems like a cartoon villain. In a lot of ways she's indistinguishable from season-eight Crowley, except that she has no history to contradict so her 'I'm so evil! Look at me I'm taking over the world! Look how cool I am!' act isn't bizarre and incoherent the way Crowley's was. It just doesn't seem like they have anything new to do with demons. They're evil for evil's sake.
And as for Ezekiel ... I do take the point from your review that Ezekiel's deus ex machina status is built in to the plot. But in practice I still get tired ( ... )
Reply
The show has changed. It had to - that's a given, but it doesn't have the purpose and urgency it used to have. I'm still enjoying it as a "new" show though. I mean, I dearly wish it had a lot less angel (aka Cas) stuff in it, but I've had to make my peace with that.
I also approach it all with a different head on these days. I don't look for the depth I used to (I look for props!) and I don't try and make sense of canon any more (we'll have an episode where Dean is patting a cat soon and forget completely that he's apparently allergic to them). I look at my pretty boys and hope that in a episode there'll be some action and enough intrigue to keep me a bit interested (I'm shallow like that).
xx
Reply
I'm glad you've found a way to keep enjoying the show. I wish I was enjoying it more than I am. I mean, I'm not marching out of the fandom in a huff or anything. I watch, I read, I wait patiently until the next time Robbie Thompson writes something, because even if the Oz story didn't really grab me I still think he's pretty damn good.
I'm just a little sad at the moment, because new episodes used to make me want to think and write and put all the pieces together.
Reply
I think because the show needs to do more than have them constantly travel from motel to motel they had to create a space that's almost like a "Bobby". - a wealth of information - a treasure trove of answers. It should also become a place that they need to defend in a major way some day - it's set up to be destroyed one day.
It could be because I still love the show (and want to keep loving it *g*) that I accept what they are doing at the moment. I think the bunker is an inspired choice for this time in the series. I am even coming to grips with the angel story - purely ( ... )
Reply
Reply
Reply
I have a soft spot for curtain fiction too, and I think the bunker might have worked as an ending. I've enjoyed some of the domestic scenes there as things unto themselves, just ... not so much as part of a larger narrative.
Reply
Reply
Well, yeah. That sounds wonderful. And if I could convince myself that they were actually telling a story like that, and it was going to lead to character development and meaningful change and some sort of exploration of how relationships (broken or otherwise) work, I'd probably be engrossed. I just ... can't ( ... )
Reply
Reply
It is quite difficult to connect with the characters these days. One of the great strengths of season four, I think, was that Sam should have been right. Every time he said 'I didn't ask for this and I'm just trying to do something good with it' - that was a good, moral and even healthy argument. The clearer it became that the deck was stacked against him and that his good intentions couldn't compete with the will of the people who wanted to use him, the story became a little more tragic. Now all I can think is 'Really? Have we learnt nothing?'
Reply
Leave a comment