This Whole Destiny Thing

So it's my turn to do a recap/review, and I figured I'd write something about whatever episode was scheduled for last night. Ha! I already reviewed it. So forget that.

Therefore, I'm going to blather a bit about this whole destiny thing, which is increasingly shown to be the underlying point of season 5.

We've been told since season 2 or 3 that it had to be Sam, it just always had to be Sam. Then, once the angels got involved, it wasn't just Sam, it was Sam and Dean. They're apparently descended from Cain and Abel...hmmm, that must mean, since the bloodline is suited for hosting angels, that Cain and Abel were designed to be vessels. Maybe not, maybe it's just a robust line. :) Anyway, the angels keep saying stuff like they knew that Sam and Dean would host Michael and Lucifer for millennia. Um...I don't think so.

For one thing, if that was true, why didn't Lucifer just tell Azazel to find Sam? He had him test babies, lots of babies. Azazel said he'd been working on his plan for generations (that might be a timeline glitch, if I'm remembering the date in the convent right). If it was always Sam, why bother marking and empowering all those kids, and orchestrating the "big fight"? Why be surprised that it was Jake, but accepting of it?

Then, once Azazel was dead, Ruby had to go through that whole manipulation thing to make sure Sam killed Lilith and broke the final seal, which, by the way, wouldn't have happened if Dean hadn't broken the first seal, which he wasn't supposed to do, it was supposed to be John, but he wouldn't break.

Now, they didn't ever say that Dean being the seal-breaker is connected to being a vessel for Michael, so maybe it's not significant that it was Dean instead of John. And it could be said that only the angels (including Lucifer) had any idea of the goals behind the manipulation, so that Alistair really didn't know what his job was intended to for.

But that brings me to the increasing revelations about the angels. We've seen them manipulate, and how good they are at it. At first, we even thought it was a good thing, when Zachariah convinced Dean to keep hunting. But the angels are working so damned hard to convince Dean, almost as hard as they've been working to orchestrate events (like using cherubs to force Mary and John to fall in love).

We've had three episodes show us, via time travel, that upcoming events are inevitable. But there are discrepancies. In "The End," Zachariah wanted to show Dean why he had to say yes. But in the future he took him to, the angels lost. If there's inevitability, how can that be changed? Then, in "The Song Remains the Same," Anna goes back to try to kill Mary so Sam is never born. The summary of that episode says the angels send her back, but they WANT Sam to be Lucifer's vessel. If Lucifer doesn't take Sam and fight Michael-in-Dean, the angels can't have their paradise.

So if Anna was let out for a purpose, why wasn't she indoctrinated into the destiny propaganda? If it's all planned and unchangeable, why do the angels have to work so hard to make Dean say yes? So it seems pretty clear that "Free Will is a Myth" is just a ploy by the angels. Kudos to them, though, for pushing it with such sincerity.

There are a couple of ways I can see this playing out:

1. Team Free Will Prevails
Big final battle, Sam and Dean never say yes, and together with all the parties they've introduced this season (like the AntiChrist and Gabriel), they defeat Lucifer AND the angels in their own way.

2. Team Destiny is Right
But only to a point. Sam and Dean say yes, and get vesselized, but with their own agenda and to their own ends, and they defeat Lucifer and Michael from within.

3. All the Teams Break Up and Reform in New and Exciting Ways
AKA, the Big Twisty Plot concept, where the writers in the room are far smarter together than any of us are individually, and they come up with some big awesome alternate scenario.

This post is brought to you by my frustration and annoyance every time someone says "Because it had to be you, Sam. It always had to be you."

So where do YOU stand on the whole destiny thing?

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All photos copyright The CW

There should be a Supernatural Super-Park

During the Olympics, they keep showing commercials for a new Harry Potter themed attraction in Orlando and this week I got flyers from Six Flags in the mail saying that they've started selling Season Passes for 2010, so I've had Amusement Parks on the brain. And I've totally decided that there could be a Supernatural theme park (forget Orlando. I'm thinking Salem or Kansas or atmospheric Savannah).

The food would all be tacky diner style (which, have you BEEN to a theme park lately? Nothing tackier than an eight-dollar grease burger). There would definitely be a funhouse of mirrors (patrons are advised not to utter Bloody Mary, however, or security will escort you from the premises.) There would be stunt shows and limited karaoke (selections from AC/DC, Metallica, and Def Leppard). Definitely no clowns, though--dude, they kill.

For the kiddies, there's the mild ride of driving mini black Impalas around a closed course. For the more adventurous, there's the Trickster Coaster, where parts of the roller coaster are in the dark and you're not sure where you're going and sometimes the coaster suddenly changes direction and zooms backward, with the track ahead being nothing more than an illusion. Don't even get me started on the haunted house.

Gift shops would sell small bags of salt, Latin dictionaries, plastic bugs and replicas of Dean's pendant. The midway challenges would include throwing a ball to see how many Reapers you can knock down and the arcade would feature a virtual reality "Demon Hunting with Bobby" game.

It could work, don't you think? All I need are a couple hundred Sam and Dean lookalikes to staff the place and we are in business!

SPNews

The big news hit last week with official confirmation of season 6 and Eric Kripke (along with his co-runner Robert Singer) stepping down as the showrunner. However, we trust the show is in great hands with exec producer/writer Sera Gamble and, thankfully, both Kripke and Singer have stated they’ll still be involved.

So what does this mean for a post-apocalypse SPN? Well, according to an interview Buddy TV did with the writers, season 6 “won’t have the scope” of this season. Instead Sera says, “You just turn left and go a whole other direction. The show has never really been about God and the angels and demons, it's a show about Sam and Dean." She further added, "There has always been a deep well to jump into in the boys' relationship...We have the opportunity to go back from the epic to a more intimate story." The idea is to go back to more stand-alones and Ben Edlund for one, is happy he can be “be funny again.”

The next natural question is this…if they’re going back to the basics, where does that leave Castiel? According to E’s Kristin, Misha only has a contract through season 5, but sources close to the show are “hopeful” he’ll be asked to stay on.

And finally, according to Vegas News Jared was spotted at LAVO celebrating his bachelor party. He’s supposed to marry costar Genevieve Cortese next week in Idaho. (Darnnit couldn't find any pics of the party!)

Yet Another Top Ten List

So I thought I'd get an episode to review, but alas, no. So I'm going to give you another top ten list, this time of favorite words or phrases from Supernatural, either that came from fandom or from the show, that you find yourself using and sound like Sam and Dean.

10) "What a douche." Sadly, this is my new saying. Shame on me. I sound like a 20-something boy :)

9) "Awkward!"

8) "I'm Batman." :)

7) "Salt and burn." Though they're not saying this one enough this season. Guess they're busy with that whole apocalypse thing.

6) "PUDDING!"

5) "I'm gonna get me some pie." Only you have to say "pie" just like Dean. I say this and I don't even like pie.

4) "Rockin' the hat." Okay, maybe you said it before but I didn't.

3) "Bitch." Helps if the other person says, "Jerk."

2) "Buckets of crazy"--which is how I'm describing my life these days

1) "DUDE!"

What things from Supernatural do you find yourself saying?

THIS JUST IN

This just in: Supernatural has been renewed for a sixth season!  Woo hooo!

*runs off to tell everyone*

ETA:
Well, damn, I was afraid of this. To sum up without all the drama: Eric Kripke is handing over showrunning duties to Sera Gamble, but he and Robert Singer will remain hands-on executive producers.

I don't know, that doesn't seem like much of a change to me. :)

SPN News for Start of Final, Interminable Hiatus

Boy, I lucked out this week with news to link you to! Also thanks to MJ (again!) for some of these. She's great at finding the stuff my Google alerts miss. :)

Late Addition: Ausiello at EW has posted his "bubble list" of TV shows and likelihood for (or status of) renewal. He considers Supernatural a sure thing. Yay!

First up: Kevin Parks, who was Supernatural's first AD for 21 episodes, is riding in The Ride to Conquer Cancer for the BC Cancer Foundation, in honor of director Kim Manners.

The Feb. 12/19 '10 issue of Entertainment Weekly contained mention of Jeffrey Dean Morgan in an article about movie actors doing TV. JDM fans will be thrilled to hear he has 5 (FIVE!) movies expected to release in 2010.

In casting news, former EastEnders actor Adam Croasdell will play Baldur. I'll minimize spoilers and let you Google it to see who that is. I'm very intrigued. :)

This article talks about the upcoming 100th episode. I'd seen pictures of the party, but this was the first write-up I read that mentioned that episode is scheduled to air April 15th.

Related: Dawn Ostroff was interviewed at a 100th-episode event in a non-spoilery video about the show and its run so far. There's also a video with Jim Beaver in this archive. And the TV Addict had some pics and a video. Check out that fourth pic. OMG, they are HUGE! LOL

A new interview with Chad Lindberg was posted last week. I didn't read it because it's spoilery! :)

Misha Collins also did an interview posted last week. It's UK-based, and they just started season 5 over there, so it maybe a lot of what we've already seen/heard. But it's Misha! :)

Do you subscribe to Supernatural magazine? If not, here's a taste of what you're missing: an excerpt from an interview with Jared and Jensen.

Watch with Kristin at E!Online held another CW Awards because they never get any love at the "real" awards. :) Supernatural made a very poor showing. Stoopid vampires.

Unfounded rumors persist in connecting Jensen Ackles to the upcoming Captain America movie (now they're saying he's one of the recent auditionees), but the LA Times gives us a definite casting note. Jensen Ackles joins Neil Patrick Harris, Jason Isaacs, and Bruce Greenwood as the voice of Red Hood in "Batman: Under the Red Hood" to be released on DVD. Additional commentary on the casting can be found here.

E!Online gossip columnist Ted Casablanca talks about wedding dates for the show's stars. Sharing the link dispite my dislike of being lumped in with the...um...less level-headed fans. :) Ted follows that up with this video with Daneel Harris. It's fluffy, but she's adorable, and talks about Valentine's plans with Jensen.

Check out 2thedeuce.com's "Battle of the Network Hotties". In round 1, all the SPN guys won their competitions (though two were losing when I first saw it!). That link should take you to round 2.

And that will do it for this week!

"My Bloody Valentine" or ew, Ew, EW!

Okay, so y'all know how squeamish I am? I'm supposed to recap, yet I'm now too traumatized for words.

Where to start... Definitely not with that beginning. When two adorable lovebirds, as Dean later puts it "eat each other too death." With gusto. Um, the title of the episode is funny anyway.

Shortly after the, er, hungry couple, we meet a devoted Jim at the office and his tearful, needy girlfriend. Who--kind of hilariously--blows away the cyncial co-worker who makes the "whipped" sound (I've always hated that.) Jim and girlfriend, now worried that prison might keep them apart, perpetrate a suicide pact to stay together for eternity.

And now a morgue where Sam and Dean are investigating internal organs--MY EYES! Seriously, this ep made me nostaglic for the days of radio shows. But admid the organs, Sam finds suspcious marking (specifically Angelic Marks) that leads to Dean calling Cass. Funny interaction where Cass shows up about an inch from Dean and says awkwardly, into his phone, "I'm hanging up now." Cass explains they're looking for a rogue Cupid (that would be a cherub, third class). Dean: "Cupid?" Like the guy with arrows and a diaper? Cass gives one of his classically dry deliveries and explains that Cupid isn't incontinent. Have I mentioned how much I love Cass?

The three guys track down a Cupid, who manifests as a chubby, jolly shirtless guy who lifts Dean off his feet. We cut to commercial and I try to summon up the nerve to watch more. (Meanwhile, an ad for Shutter Island grosses me out.)

Okay, continuing to watch totally pays off for me. After commercial, we see see that Cupid is not so much attacking Dean as hugging him (and Cupid also appears to be...pantsless). Then he hugs the heck out of Cass and advances on a horrified looking Sam. Dean asks, confused, "Is this a fight? Are we in a fight? I don't like it." Cass: "No one likes it." They accuse Cupid of murdering his targets (or causing them to murder each other) and the rest of this scene, OMG, you just have to see for yourself. Freaking hysterical. But they do hear the revelation that John and Mary Winchester were a heaven-ordered, Cupid precipitated match specifically so that Sam and Dean were born.


Annnnnnd we're back in the morgue and I am scared and watching through my fingers. I'll spare you the details except to say guy on the slab died for love of Twinkies.

After the morgue, Sam once again sees a suspicious guy in a black suit who brings to mind a Reaper. Sam attacks him in an alley with The Knife and is entirely too excited by the sight of the guy's blood. At this point, "ew" is just getting redundant. But the cut demon gets away, leaving behind a suitcase. Dean: "Let's crack it open. What's the worst that could happen?" Oh, DEAN, have you not seen your show?

An explosion of light follows. Cass, who has apparently developed a fondness for burgers, tells the boys that there was a soul in the suitcase and that the town is suffering from "Famine." Hunger for food, hunger for affection, hunger for... You name it. This horseman, btw, rides a black steed--a wheel chair, rather than a sports car. The horseman is a frail old man hungering for souls of his victims. Then follows a gross cafe scene that should help me lose weight. This entire episode is good for that; even Dean lost his appetite earlier.

Deprived of the human soul he was supposed to get, Famine just eats the demon Sam slashed in the alley. And I'm guessing Sam's hunger for demon blood will become a plot point again before the ep is over. Speaking of which...Sam is sweating in front of a mirror and becoming more agitated. Dean wants to know if Famine can be defeated by slicing off his ring, as they did with War. Meanwhile, Sam's having DTs in the corner. Where's the nearest weekly meeting of Demon Blood Anonymous when you need one? Dude, call your sponsor! (Which reminds me, where the heck has Bobby been?) Cass declares Sam infected and Dean prepares to go ring-hunting without his bro, after handcuffing Sam to the hotel plumbing (which I can easily imagine getting ripped out of the wall soon).

Yet another trip to the morgue, only this time the doc in charge of the lab is the one on the slab, after drinking himself to death. Cass says that the doctor's soul hasn't been harvested yet and could be their path to Famine. Meanwhile, Cass continues to scarf down burgers, reminding me a little of when I was pregnant in my eighth month and couldn't get enough avocado. Cass wants to know where Dean's hunger is, and Dean maintains he doesn't have repressed appetites because he eats when he wants, gets laid when he wants, etc. But little bro Sam? Seriously repressed appetite. The demons come in and free him. He stabs one in the neck and goes to town. Gross. But it does bring back his powerful mojo.

Dean and Burger Boy track down famine at the Cafe Del Grossness but the plan to cut the ring off goes awry when Cass gets sidetracked by red meat. Dean is caught and dragged to Famine who says that Dean is a void, completely broken and defeated with no hunger left for anything. "Inside, you're already dead." They're interupted by a bloody-faced, Dark Side Sam. Famine, wanting to bring Sam closer to Lucifer, happily invites him to chow down on all the demons in the room. Sam peforms a mass exorcism thingy that leaves Dean wide-eyed and freaked, then Sam tells Famine, "No." Yay! Sam may earn that sobriety token after all.

Famine then eats the demon spirit thingies, and Sam basically kills all the spirits he ate. (Okay, I took lots of writing and communications classes for my degree and have written lots of stuff in the last ten years of being published, yet never did I think I'd type a sentence like that last one.)

Unfortunately, Sam has to go through another painful detox that is hellish for Dean to hear (he copes by swigging straight from a whiskey bottle, then finally leaving to go hang out at the Impala). He cries, then prays for help. I cry along with him. And we go to black screen. Dude. Harsh.

Scenes for next episode. The good news? Bobby! The bad news? March freaking 25th.

And in closing, a little public service announcement. This Valentine's Day, it may be okay to do some harmless, playful nibbling. However, it is never okay to gnaw your valentine to death.